Spirals of Affection
by Whisperwings
Summary: She was the one girl he wanted, and the one girl he couldn't have. Sirius could get any girl though, if he used the right tricks. So what if a few other guys got flattened in the process? Even if one of them is a dear friend... SiriusxOC RemusxOC
1. Chapter 1

A girl already wearing her Ravenclaw uniform was slowly making her way down the crowded hall of the train. Students were milling about to find friends and exchange their stories of the holidays and she was having a hard time getting anywhere. Finally, she was forced to stop and lean against the window and wait for the woman with the cart of candy go by, the crowd parting. Sirius, leaning in the doorway to his compartment, grinned at the girl. "Bored?"

"To tears. Not that you'd care." She answered in a flat voice. Sirius had to sigh. He was used to the girls at Hogwarts tripping over themselves to even get him to notice them. He reveled in the attention. And yet, Cassandra Coal seemed invulnerable to his charms.

"Give it up." James said with a grin as she walked away, heading off down the train. "She's not interested."

Sirius gave the messy haired, bespectacled boy a look. "Prongs, if I told you to give up on Evans, would you?"

"Probably not."

"There you go then." He looked up as the seat across from his was taken by Remus. "Done already?"

"Done finally you mean? I really do hate being a prefect sometimes."

"But you fit the role so perfectly!" James said, grinning again. Remus glared, only to yelp when Peter stepped on his foot.

"Sorry! Sorry sorry…I'm sorry." The plump boy said, sinking into his seat and looking as if he'd just tripped and stuck his wand up the Minister's nose.

"Peter relax. And stop apologizing." Remus said with a sigh, shoving his bag into an overhead compartment. It never failed to amuse Sirius that only Peter seemed able to annoy Remus. The werewolf had grown used to James and Sirius treating him like a normal guy. Peter seemed unable to reach that point.

"Sorry…"

Remus sighed again, but didn't say anything, pulling out his robes. James made a face. "We're nowhere near being there Moony, don't change already!"

The lighter haired boy raised an eyebrow and looked over his shabby clothes. James had the decency to look away, acting as if he hadn't said a word. Sirius only laughed at his expense.

"Oh, Remus?" the boys looked up to see Cassandra Coal in the doorway once more. She had an odd look on her face, as if she was torn between embarrassment and exasperation.

"Hello Cassie. Good summer?"

"Could have been better." The girl said with a shrug, before jerking her head to the hall. "You have a minute?"

Remus nodded and stood, making sure the door was completely closed before letting the girl say anything. Sirius watched in interest – and growing suspicion – as the girl shuffled in discomfort and Remus's cheeks turned pink.

"What was that about?" Sirius asked, working hard to keep his voice casual as Remus took his seat once more, robes forgotten.

"What? Oh…nothing." He said quickly. He looked up and saw that both Sirius and James were about to start demanding answers and hopped to his feet. "I'm going to change." He said in a rush, grabbing his bundle of a uniform and rushing out of the train compartment again.

"Someone fancies Moony…" James said in a sing-song voice. Sirius looked at him and raised an eyebrow, hoping it looked normal.

"What do you mean?"

"Did you see the way he blushed? I bet Coal was telling him that she fancies him!"

"What? No. No, Coal doesn't like Remus…she never-"

"Hinted at it? Sure she has! She's a prefect too. They do rounds together all the time. Why wouldn't she like him? He seems her type."

"Type? She has a type? And what, pray-tell, is her type?" Sirius asked. James was either missing or ignoring the slight dangerous note in his voice.

"Anything but you I think." The seeker said with a snort. Sirius snorted and James rolled his eyes. "It's been six years Padfoot, don't you think she would have changed her mind by now?"

"What? I haven't even known she existed for six years." Sirius pointed out.

"That's because she was ugly." James said flatly. Sirius didn't say a word. For their first three years at Hogwarts, Sirius had been more than happy to ignore the plain Ravenclaw girl. She'd worn badly fitting clothes, had limp mousy-brown hair, and was entirely beneath his notice. Then, over the summer between their third and fourth years, she'd taken a trip to visit a cousin in France, who'd changed her entirely. Sirius had been blown away by the girl he'd bumped into on the train that September 1st. Her hair was brushed to a sheen and curled naturally just enough to have bounce. Somehow, it seemed to shine to him, though the color hadn't changed. Her clothing was now in style as well, and fit her wonderfully.

He'd actually assumed she was a new student.

"_Well well, transfer?" he'd asked. She'd blinked in surprise, then looked around to see if he was talking to someone else. "I've only got eyes for you beautiful."_

_The compliment hadn't gotten him the typical result. Instead of blushing and giggling, she'd straightened up and glared. "I've been going here since I turned eleven." She said, before spinning. He'd followed._

"_What's your name?"_

"_Why do you care?"_

"_Do I need a reason?"_

"_Do you have one?"_

"_I told you, you caught my eye."_

"_As opposed to the last three years I suppose?"_

"_Well…yes."_

_She'd snorted in what had sounded like disbelief. "Go away, Black." She'd said, slamming a compartment door on his fingers before shutting the blinds on the glass window._

Needless to say, Black was hooked. He'd been making fun of James for ages for his unending interest in Lily Evans. But he couldn't really say anything anymore. Not when James had the ammunition to give as good as he got. For two years now, he'd been unable to get the girl to look at him twice. It was infuriating. In a rather intoxicating way. Like a drug he couldn't get enough of. She hadn't even had to make an effort, but she'd caught him hook, line, and sinker.

She was pretty, smart, and untouchable. He couldn't resist the challenge.

Well, this year was the turning point. This year, he'd get her. He'd do whatever he had to in order to catch the one girl who wouldn't let him trap her.

_Alright guys, i'm preforming a little experiment here... I write this chapter tonight, just now. I'm going to post chapters as I write them, which is HIGHLY unusual for me. I usually don't start posting until the story is finished. I'm going to find out if your reviews make me write any faster, so it's up to you how quickly this story gets done. Your support means everything to me, and i'm going to need it. I'm very insecure right now, because I have only the vaguest idea of where this story is going ^^;_

_So please please review, and cheer me on!_

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings  
_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Sirius was eager to get off the train the moment they'd arrived. He was starving, and the wait for the welcome feast felt like it would take forever.

"Eat a pumpkin pasty or something." James said, wrapping his tie around his neck and tying it as he stepped onto the damp platform of the Hogsmeade Station.

"If I eat, then I won't be hungry at all." Sirius pointed out.

"Then stop complaining." Remus pointed out, uniform resting perfectly on his lithe frame. Sirius managed to look disheveled yet perfect all at once, with a slightly loosened tie and the top button of his shirt undone. James was just a bit of a slob, robes half hanging off his shoulder and tie – which he'd given up on – hanging undone from under his collar. Peter was like a short, plump shadow behind the trio, always trying to keep up with their longer legs. Sirius was starting to doubt that he'd ever hit a growth spurt as the others had all done of the past few years.

"Complaining is good for the heart." He said with a cocky grin, brushing hair out of his eyes. Remus made a face, a few scars there glinting in the light of the half moon.

"For you maybe. For the rest of us it's just annoying."

"Well I'm glad I'm not you then."

"Thanks ever so."

"Oh come on you guys, we're back at Hogwarts!" James interjected, throwing an arm around each of their shoulders. "Just think of the trouble we'll be causing this year."

"You're not helping much." Remus said stiffly, though the grin on his face defied the act. James knew it too, chuckling in amusement.

"You can pretend to follow the rules on your own time Moony, not on ours."

"And you can hurry along as you're supposed to." A strict, nasally voice said. Sirius realized none of them had been keeping their voices down amongst the chatter of the students. But Argus Filtch was always watching them for any signs of trouble. "I'll be keeping my eye on you lot this year…"

"Wouldn't expect anything less, my fine fellow." James said with a grin and a bow, before laughing and hurrying on. Sirius chuckled and stuffed his hands in his pockets, covering the ground to the carriages with an easy distance eating lope.

He noticed Cassandra giggling with a group of friends as they climbed into a carriage and felt his smile grow. He knew that in order to get to her, he'd have to go through her friends. As he took a seat in the next of the horseless carriages he looked out into the forests with a blank look, his mind elsewhere.

One of girls was another Ravenclaw, very pretty and popular. Sirius knew he could get on her good side with ease, but she was a bit annoying. As much as he wanted to get to Cassie, it wasn't worth dealing with her friend for any length of time. The other friend was a Hufflepuff. Short and petite, she was tiny compared to her two gracefully tall friends. He knew she was shy and didn't tend to talk a lot. He had a feeling she was his best bet.

"Meet you in the hall." He said as they climbed from the carriage once more, slipping away and walking towards Cassie and her two friends. He whipped out his wand, trying to think of a way to get the short girl apart, then whispered a sticking spell under his breath. It was just enough to make the slight heel of the smaller girl's shoe stick to the ground. As he'd hoped, she didn't call to the two girls walking away, instead, kneeling to try and get herself unstuck.

Sirius knelt beside her and sent her one of his smiles, the one that made girls go weak in the knees. It worked wonderfully as she gasped and stared. "Need some help?" he asked, prodding his wand at her heel. She looked down and he muttered the counter spell under his breath, freeing her shoe. He took her hand and helped her to her feet, smiling down at her. She seemed even smaller up close.

"Um…thank you." She said, a tad breathlessly. Her eyes were a brilliant green, and still wide with surprise. "I don't know what happened."

"Heels and mud don't tend to get along." He pointed out with a charming grin, falling into place beside her as they went inside. She giggled in amusement, still breathless, and nodded.

"That's true enough."

Sirius looked down at her, flashing that smile again. "What's your name?"

"Rose. Rose Appleash."

"Oh, so _you're_ Applesause!" Sirius said in surprise, having heard the nickname on the lips of others. The face she made proved him right.

"I see it's spread." She said grumpily. All signs of surprise at his presence were gone as she glared up at him. "And I think Cassie was right about you."

"And just what does Cassie say about me?" Sirius asked with a grin.

Her glare – if possible – only grew worse, her eyes narrowing. "That you're a pompous prat who doesn't care about anyone besides himself." She said smartly, before spinning and hurrying into the great hall. Sirius blinked in surprise and then frowned.

Cassie thought that? Of him? This was going to be more challenging than he'd first thought… And it looked like he'd need to win Rose over first before he could even get started on her prettier friend. Pity, this little scheme would take even longer than he expected. And some careful planning…

He took his usual seat beside James at the Gryffindor table, but was ignoring his friend as the students settled and the first years were sorted.

The plan was simpler in his mind than it would be in reality he was sure. First of all, he had to convince Rose than he was a decent guy, and that he really needed her help in winning Cassie over. Then, he'd have to take her advice and – with the girl's help – know exactly what to do to redeem himself in the Ravenclaw's eyes. Then there was the slight problem that Cassie might like Remus…and that Remus might like her back.

He grinned, looking between Remus and Rose, both listening attentively to Professor Dumbledore's speech. Maybe he could sway Remus's interest a bit from Cassie to her small friend? The two would get along wonderfully… it would mean that everyone ended up happy! Well, perhaps not James. But Lily wasn't a part of Sirius's plan, he'd have to win the redhead over himself somehow.

Still, by the time the food appeared on the platters before them, Sirius was grinning confidently. If everything went well, he and Cassie would be dating before the end of their first term.

And so it was that Rose found the tall, handsome young man walking beside her as she left the Great Hall the next morning after breakfast. She glared up at him and played her part wonderfully, knowing Cassie wouldn't like to know her thoughts right now…

She couldn't help but feel happy at the attention, or admit the way he seemed so effortlessly perfect no matter what he did. Sirius was easily the best looking boy at school. The one all the guys either hated or wanted to be friends with, and the one all the girls wanted to be with. He was the equivalent of a fairytale prince to almost every girl in school. Except Cassie. Rose still didn't know why she was so against Sirius in the first place, but nothing could change her mind. And she expected her friends to feel the same way.

Rose couldn't help it though…she'd had the occasional daydream of Sirius paying attention to her, having an interest in her, dating her… She knew it was entirely impossible though. Someone like Sirius Black would never notice a girl like her… Rose "Applesause" Appleash.

And so it was easy to do just what Cassie expected. To ignore the male's existence, to not talk to him, and to smile and nod when Cassie was in a bad mood and felt like talking about whatever annoying thing Sirius had done that day. It was an easy role to play, since she was never in danger of breaking the rules.

So to find him walking with her down the halls now was entirely confusing. "Did you need something?" she asked in a cold voice. She wanted to pick up her pace and escape, but his longer legs could overtake her in seconds.

"Just to apologize for what I said last night. I know you probably don't like the nickname, and I felt bad about bringing it up. I was just surprised to find out that you were the same person."

"Well…I am. And no, I don't like it. Someone started calling me that in first year and I haven't been able to shake it yet."

"You know…I could help you with that."

"In what way?" she asked, looking sharply up at him. She expertly hid the shiver when he grabbed her arm to keep her from walking into a suit of armor.

Sirius just shrugged as his hands went back to his pockets. "I could just start telling people not to say it. It wouldn't take too long I don't think."

Rose blinked in shock. "Um…well, thanks. That would be…nice. Too nice. What do you want from me?"

It seemed they'd finally gotten to the point of this conversation. "I need your help-"

"Oh no." Rose interrupted. "I am not going to help you win over Cassie." She said flatly, guessing his intent with ease. Of course…he was only talking to her because she was a link to the girl he couldn't get. She was just a stepping stone on the path to her friend.

"Please? Rose, I don't know what I'm doing wrong! I try everything and no matter what, she still brushes me off. I've been trying for ages and I don't know what to try anymore…"

Rose sighed and looked at his face. She was surprised at the emotion in his eyes. "You…you really _do_ fancy her, don't you?" she asked in surprise. Cassie wasn't just a prize? A notch on the bedpost?

He sighed and nodded. "Yeah… I know it's stupid, I really do. If I didn't, I wouldn't still be trying to get her to like me. I'm not desperate for a girlfriend or anything." He pointed out. The admission of popularity soured Rose's mood again…but she'd softened enough by that point.

"Why do you need me?"

"Because you know her best! You know what she likes and doesn't like in a guy, you know what I should say and do, you know her favorite colors and flowers and things… You can at least help me get a foot in the door. Can't you?"

Rose shrugged, her fingers wrapped tightly around the strap of her shoulder bag. "I…suppose." She finally whispered.

"Yes! Thank you Rose!" he exclaimed. If the loud appreciation hadn't been enough to get everyone in the hall to stare, he then wrapped his arms around her and lifted her right from the floor with a hug.

"Alright alright, I'll help!" she hissed, blushing a brilliant red as she looked around. "But Cassie can't know, she'd be so angry…"

"Easy. Meet me by the greenhouses after supper tonight." he said with a grin. Rose stared.

"The greenhouses? Why-"

"Because no one is out there and no one will know we are."

She made a face. "Alright, fine." She said quickly. He beamed and thanked her again before taking off. Rose took the opportunity to duck into an empty classroom and catch her breath.

Cassie wouldn't be happy about this if she knew…she may even consider this a betrayal. But Cassie's heart was still thumping from that hug, and she knew…she knew she'd do anything to make Sirius Black happy.

_Alright, doing well so far! Just to explain a bit better to everyone reading this story... I usually wait until I have written every single chapter of a story before posting it. Which means that it's months or years before I start posting stuff. I'm always worried that the pressure of posting while writing will rush me into making mistakes. So this is a HUGE experiment for me. It doesn't help that i'd never even considered writing a Marauders story before starting this the other night, lol._

_My plotline is more figured out know, at least the basic gist of it. I'm honestly looking forward to seeing how this unfolds, and I hope you all are too!_

_Please please pleeeeeeease review and let me know how i'm doing. Don't be afraid to tell me if people are being OOC or if something doesn't fit... And I won't complain if you tell me that i;m doing things right either, lol._

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings  
_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Where were you?" James asked in interest when Sirius finally made it to Transfiguration, their first class of the year.

"Hmm? Oh, nowhere." Sirius said vaguely. Thankfully McGonagall was there a moment later and starting the lesson, but the look on James' face promised that he was still curious.

Sirius took notes right along with everyone else, but it was more difficult than usual to pay attention. His mind was on Rose and how easy it had been to win her cooperation, and on Cassie. The Ravenclaw wouldn't blame Rose for helping he was sure. By the time she found out her short friend had had anything to do with all this, he doubted she'd mind since she'd already be with him.

Remus looked over and rolled his eyes, seeing that Sirius wasn't even paying attention. He balled up a scrap of parchment and tossed it at Sirius, making the boy look over in question. Remus only raised his eyebrows and jerked his chin at the front of the room. Sirius grinned and got back to note taking, but Remus doubted his mind was on his work at all.

Where had he kept running off to? It wasn't like Sirius to just take off without a word of where he was going. Now, he'd done it twice. And judging by the smile on his friend's face, it had something to do with Cassie.

That, in turn, made Remus sigh. He did enjoy Cassie's company. Quite a bit actually. She was different from the other girls, and not just in the way that she was the only one without a crush on Sirius Black.

Cassie was… honestly, Remus didn't think he could describe her. She was brilliant of course, being a Ravenclaw. And pretty too. But it was more than that. Sirius didn't see beyond her looks, he was sure. She was a prize he couldn't get. The lure of the unattainable.

Sirius didn't know that Cassie was kind and gentle…that she loved the snow or that she had two cats at home. Sirius didn't know that she loved Potions with a passion or that she actually enjoyed Divination.

And knowing how Sirius was with girls, he probably wouldn't care about it either. The guys were close friends, but they didn't always agree on the purpose girls had in their lives. Sirius had a bad habit of not remembering that they were more than just…objects. They were almost a status symbol. He loved having all the girls in school fawn over him, he just didn't seem to care about much else.

Remus would be lying if he said that it didn't bother him.

"Mr. Lupin?"

Remus's head shot upright. "What?"

"I asked you a direct question." Professor McGonagall said, an eyebrow raised. Remus flushed as the class snickered in amusement, and he looked to his friends for help. Both James and Sirius launched into a series of pantomimes to hint at the question, only eliciting more laughter. "And I hope Mr. Potter and Mr. Black aren't trying to help." She said, turning and forcing the other two to freeze in two bizarre poses. The class burst out laughing and even McGonagall's lips twitched in amusement. "Now let's try this again…"

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"This is stupid…" Sirius heard Rose muttering as he neared the greenhouses. "This is stupid, I should just go back to the common room and do my homework. If he asks, I'll just tell him I forgot…or that I changed my mind. Yeah, that's it…I'll just go."

Sirius had to chuckle when the girl turned to leave only to find him standing there.

"Gah! Don't do that!" Rose exclaimed as she clutched her chest. "I…wait, how long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough." Sirius said, crossing his arms and leaning against the corner of the greenhouse.

"Oh…well… Then you know that I don't want to do this."

"Why not?"

"Because…I feel like it's wrong." Rose admitted, her hands twisting a lock of her brown hair. Sirius raised an eyebrow, absently brushing hair from his eyes.

"Wrong? In what way?"

"Look…Cassie doesn't like you. And I mean she really really doesn't like you. I don't know why, and I've never asked. But I feel like if I tell you how to get on her good side it's… I don't know…"

"What?"

She looked up at him and he was once again struck by just how green her eyes were. "I feel like it's wrong." She said again. "I feel like I'm going to help you get around her rules. The boundaries she's set up. And as her friend, I feel that helping you is betraying her."

Sirius sighed. He'd been afraid of this. "Look, Rose…what does Cassie think of me?"

The girl blinked in confusion, wrapping her long sweater more tightly around her thin frame. "What do you mean?"

Sirius shrugged. "I mean…what kinds of things does she say about me?"

Rose blushed. "I…don't think you want to know."

Sirius sighed. "Rose…?"

The girl bit her lip and made an odd movement that might have been a shrug or a shake of the head. "She…says that you're pig-headed, annoying, self-absorbed, a pain, infuriating, a jerk, a bully, a-"

"Alright alright, I get it!" Sirius was quick to interject. "She really says all that?"

Rose snorted. "On a daily basis. She gets more creative when you've actually done something to make her angry."

"That's…comforting." The boy said sarcastically, running a hand though his hair. "Well…do you think all that about me?"

Rose did that odd jerking movement again. "I'm…not really sure." She said vaguely. "Maybe?"

Sirius grinned at her. "Well, I'm not really all that bad. She's assuming things. I just want her to be able to see past that…and you can help with that."

Rose bit her lip. "I don't know…it still feels wrong."

"Wrong to make Cassie realize what I'm really like? Rose, I promise, I won't make you do anything you don't want to. I'm not about to make you deliver love letters and presents or anything." He said with a chuckle. He was rewarded with a hint of a smile.

"Alright, fine. I'll help you. But I want you to swear right now that if you ask me to do something and I say no, that you won't push it."

"I swear." He said immediately, holding out his hand. She looked at it, up at his face, and then back at his hand before reaching out and shaking it with a surprisingly firm grip.

"Then we have a deal."

He beamed and nodded, waving for her to follow him. "Come on, let me show you something." He led the way around the corner of the main greenhouse, then past the doors for the next two.

"Where are we going?"

Sirius grinned. "I bet you've never seen the main greenhouse before." He looked over his shoulder to see her eyes go wide.

"But…we're not allowed in there! Only those Professor Sprout thinks are good enough are allowed-"

"We're not going in!" Sirius said with a laugh. "There's so many deadly plants in there, it'd be insane. No, but you can see down into it from the roof."

"And how are we going to get up on the roof?"

"Like this." He said with a grin, jumping up and grabbing the edge of the roof, pulling himself up onto the clay shingles. He leaned back over the edge and reached out a hand. "Coming?"

Rose was very glad it was dark, because she was blushing like crazy. This was like something out of a dream! Most girls in school would kill to be in her position right now. And here she was trying to set him up with one of her best friends. Would he do this stuff with Cassie later? Show her the secrets of the castle as if she'd been the first one?

She'd never wanted to be Cassie as much as she did right then.

Sirius chuckled when she finally reached up, only to find herself too short to reach. She had to jump and he leaned down to catch her hand, lifting her easily up onto the shingles. She stood carefully, looked over the edge of the roof, and knelt once more, deciding it was safer. She squeaked when the shingles shifted.

"Is it safe up here?"

"If you're careful, yeah."

"How very comforting." She said drying, trying to cover up the awkwardness. She was very glad she'd worn pants rather than the skirt she'd been eying when she changed out of her uniform. "Where to now?"

"Up here." He said, leading her up the gentle slope of the roof. The building was built like a spiral. They'd climbed up onto the main level, only a single story above the ground. The roof spiraled around a large glass dome, the highest point being when it had made the full circle around the dome. When they reached the top, there was a small flat space, and Sirius flopped down on his back as if he'd been up here a dozen times before. And, Rose reminded herself, he probably had.

She'd never be able to come out here again, may as well enjoy it. She'd remember this night for weeks to come, daydreaming that it was her that Sirius wanted to date rather than her best friend.

_These chapters feel so short to me! I'm used to typing out 8 pages for each chapter, only doing 4 is just weird =P Still, I think this will help me keep going. I feel like I'm making progress every time I open a fresh doc to start a new chapter :D I have the plot mapped out, but my characters have a tendency to get away from me, so we'll see if I stick to it or not :P_

_Already working on more chapters, but feedback would really really help, so please review!_

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings  
_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

As Sirius got comfortable on the rooftop, Rose looked over the edge of the clay shingles and down at the glass dome. She gasped as the moonlight lit up plants she'd only seen in books, plants she'd been fascinated with the first time she opened her dad's herbology book when she was five years old.

"They have a _Venomous Tentacula_ plant down there…and Chinese Chomping Cabbages! And…oh my goodness, is that a _Diamante foglia baccello_?"

Sirius looked over at her. "Who cares?"

"Who cares?" she repeated in a high pitched voice. "A _Diamante foglia baccello_…is a Diamond Leaf Pod plant. It's a plant that lives in a bed of coal. And every full moon, it grows a pod that opens to reveal a diamond. They're incredibly rare!"

Sirius, surprisingly interested, sat up enough to rest on his elbows. "Diamonds? Plants make diamonds?"

She giggled in amusement, still looking down at the dome. "Just this one. They're truly miraculous. I've always wanted to study one myself!"

He smirked slightly. "You're a herbology nut, aren't you?" She grinned over at him.

"Well I _am_ a Hufflepuff." She pointed out before turning back to the dome. Sirius chuckled and rolled over, looking down into the dome himself. "Aren't you?"

He snorted. "Me? No way. I come out here to look at the stars." She looked over in disbelief.

"Let me get this straight…you sneak out to the Herbology Greenhouse to look at the sky?"

He shrugged and grinned. "Yeah…guess I do."

Rose giggled and rolled onto her back, gazing at the sky. "Wouldn't the view be nicer up on the Astronomy tower?"

He chuckled again. "Probably." He admitted. "It's not just the sky though…it's the escape. Getting away from school."

Rose looked over, surprise on her face. "An escape?"

He nodded, looking at the stars again. They reflected in his grey eyes, and she had force herself to look away. "Hogwarts is wonderful, I love it here. But still, even I want to get away sometimes."

She giggled in amusement. "We've only been back one day!"

He grinned. "True again. But I happened to be out here anyway. Why are girls obsessed with flowers?"

"What?" she asked, confused both at the question and the swift change in topic. "What are you talking about?"

"Flowers. Girls always want guys to get them flowers, why?"

She snorted. "It's not like that." She told him. "Flowers and pretty and all, yes. But that's not why it's nice to get them from a guy."

"Then…why?"

She sat up and looked out over the Hogwarts grounds, trying to explain in a way he'd understand. "Because if a guy hands you a flower, it means that at some point during the day, he thought of you and said to himself 'I want to get her something. Just to show that I care.' It means that even when you're not around, the guy still wants to make you happy."

"Oh! Yeah, I guess that does make sense."

She smiled softly. "It's just a message that you're on their mind. That you think about them."

"I see…what are Cassie's favorite flowers?"

Rose hid a sigh. Back to Cassie again… "She loves Hibiscus flowers."

"Those aren't very easy to get…"

"Sure they are. If you're me." she said, a hint of smugness in her voice." He looked at her in surprise and she grinned. "Professor Sprout is a fan of hibiscus teas, she grows her own in Greenhouse Seven. I could easily get the flowers for you when you need them."

"That's perfect! What would you think about…leaving them without her knowing it was me? Like a…secret admirer sort of thing?"

Rose shrugged, playing with the hem of her shirt after laying back down. "That could work. Just at first. And I'd back off a bit about teasing her. You need to actually talk with her. Have a real conversation."

"She avoids me when she can and runs off when I come near, how am I supposed to do that?"

"Hmm…do the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors have any classes together this year?"

"I think we have Potions together…"

"Perfect! Sit at her table for potions. She's brilliant when it comes to potions. Act as if…as if you didn't want to sit there. As if you hadn't been allowed to sit with James. It's three to a table, so you'll be forced elsewhere."

"And I should act like I don't want to be there?"

"No, act as if you'd rather have stayed with James but you didn't have a choice. And really try at your potions. If you do, she'll be more willing to offer advice."

"Even to me?"

Rose had to grin. "Even to you. It'll provide an opening to conversation. You being impressed with her skills, she offering to help…it won't feel like much, but it's a start."

He sighed. "What do you know, I'll have to make an effort."

She shrugged, not caring that he wouldn't see. "Is she worth an effort?"

"Yes." He said quickly. "Yes, she's worth it…"

She nodded and sat up. "Good. Now, I need to get back, I have work to do."

He sat up and started leading her down the spiral of a roof again. "Work already? It's the first day of class!"

She gave him a wry grin before he lowered her down to the ground. "You must not have Ancient Runes." She said as he hopped down beside her. "And I need to write out a few notes for Professor Sprout so I can get on her good side and get her to let me into Greenhouse seven to get those flowers."

The pair walked in silence to the doors of the castle, pausing outside. "Thanks Rose, I really mean that."

She smiled, hoping it reached her eyes. "It's no trouble. Goodnight." She whispered before slipping inside and down the hall towards the Hufflepuff common room.

Sirius watched the girl leave, and smiled before sneaking back to the Gryffindor Common Room. He slipped inside and went to join James, Remus and Peter who'd taken their usual clump of armchairs to the left of the fireplace.

"Where have you been all evening?" Remus asked.

"Just…needed to stop by the greenhouses."

"What for?" James asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Finding the perfect flower." Sirius said vaguely, slumping in his chair and staring into the fireplace. James and Remus looked at each other in confusion, shrugging to show they didn't understand. They looked at Peter, who shrugged too. James made a face and looked at Sirius, wondering what was going on.

He didn't bother to ask, simply grabbing the other boy's sleeve and dragging him from the common room and up the stairs to their dormitory. Sirius's questions were ignored until they were inside and the door was shut.

"Padfoot, what's going on? You've been taking off and not saying a word, it's…not you." James said, crossing his arms in confusion. Sirius glared, tugging his shirt back into place.

"Look…I'm just working on a way to get Cassie to like me."

James blinked. Whatever he'd been expecting, that wasn't it. "You're what? How?"

Sirius signed and sat on the end up his bed. "Her friend Rose…she's agreed to help."

James stared. "So wait…you're getting help from a girl in order to get another girl? Why didn't you just ask me?"

Sirius chuckled and raised an eyebrow. "You? You have yet to get Lily to even talk to you civilly for three seconds, why would I ask you?"

James grinned, if a bit sheepishly. "Alright yeah…but still. Why didn't you just say something?"

"I didn't want Remus to find out."

"Why not?"

"Prongs, if Moony likes Cassie, do you think he'll be happy about me trying to get her?"

"I guess not…but we don't even know how he feels about her." James pointed out.

"I just figured it'd be safer not to say anything."

"So you're going through…Rose was it? Who's that?"

"Rose Appleash." Sirius explained. The blank look on James' face made him role his eyes. "Applesause?"

"Oh! Her name is Rose?"

"Yeah, it is. And look, I told her I'd help get people to stop calling her that. It's a dumb nickname and she doesn't like it."

"Yeah yeah, I get it. Rose it is. Appleash? Gotta remember that…" James muttered, leaving and heading back down to the common room. Sirius chuckled and looked after him before grabbing a book to read. Rose may want to start on homework already, but Sirius wasn't quite ready to be in full school mode quite yet.

_I am on a roll and loving it! My schoolwork is suffering slightly. Not much mind you, just that it's a tad harder to focus on boring theory of anthropology readings when i want nothing more than to work on this :D_

_Please please review!_

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings  
_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Sirius took his time when he claimed he'd forgotten something after breakfast. It gave his three friends time to get to the Potions classroom and take their seats. Normally Peter would be left without one at their table and be forced to go elsewhere. He'd be more than happy to claim the third seat today.

He'd timed it perfectly. James, Remus, and Peter were at one table, James sending a confused and apologetic look. Sirius waved it off and moved to the nearest empty seat, which just so happened to be at Cassie's table.

He acted as if he hadn't realized she was there, pulling out parchment for notes and setting up his cauldron.

"What are you doing?" the girl's voice demanded a second later once she'd found her voice. Sirius looked up in surprise and grinned.

"Why hello Coal, decide to join me?"

"What? _You_ sat _here_!" she exclaimed, as loudly as she could without drawing attention.

"Oh! Sorry about that, I didn't see you."

"Why aren't you with your little friends?"

"They're right there." He said, pointing over his shoulder. "Can't join them when there's three to a table." He pointed out, in what he hoped was a reasonable voice. He was hiding delight that she hadn't yet thought to get up and move.

"But…you can't just…"

"Just what, sit down? Look Coal, I'm sorry if you don't want me here, but it's too late now." He said as Professor Slughorn hopped to his feet and started his welcome. It was an unwritten rule. The seat you sat in on the first day of class would likely be your seat for the rest of the year.

Cassie huffed in annoyance and Sirius hid a grin, looking to see who else was at the table. The grin grew when he saw none other than Lily Evans. She was looking at him with a raised eyebrow, which he answered with a smile before turning to pay attention.

James was going to be so jealous.

Though he now had a dilemma…how should he treat Lily when he was supposed to treat Cassie as a friend already? The same way? He'd never considered the third person at the table. He needed to ask Rose…

Class went by quietly, as everyone struggled to understand the complicated potion they'd been asked to make. He didn't have much of a chance to compliment her work, and Cassie was determined to pretend he wasn't there. He let it be and left without a word as class ended, joining his friends before they went off to their next class. It wasn't until lunch he had a spare moment.

"Rose!" he called when she came from the great hall. She looked up in surprise.

"Yes?"

"I sat with Cassie today-"

"I know, she's said so. Many times, and with quite a few unappealing adjectives to describe you in the process." Rose said dryly, adjusting the strap of her bag. "Problem?"

"No. Well yes…kind of. Lily Evans is at the same table."

"Oh you'll have to really work to keep up." The girl said, a smile growing. "They're both brilliant at potions."

"Gee, thanks." Sirius said sarcastically. "I was just wondering what I should do about Evans? How do I talk to her?"

Rose looked confused. "Just…treat her like you would anyone else. Casual conversation, say hi, stuff like that. You don't have to be her best friend, just…be decent."

"Then how to I treat Cassie?"

Rose sighed and adjusted the bag strap once more. "The same. Just be sure to show her a little more attention than you do Lily. Treat them both as friends and they're likely to treat you the same. Given time. Just…I don't know, leave hints that Cassie is still the one you're interested in. Notice her work more often, spend more time talking to her…"

"What, that's it?"

Her patience was gone though. "Look Sirius, I'm not a matchmaker here. I don't know every little detail about what you should and shouldn't do. I'm not an expert. I'm just a girl with a very heavy bag who is going to be late for class. Bye." She said, hurrying off. Sirius winced as he saw just how stuffed her bag was and wished he'd been a bit more observant.

Oh well, no time for that. He had class himself, and he was going to be late. He didn't have potions for a few days, and now Rose probably wasn't eager to see him any more than Cassie was…he'd have to be patient. And maybe distract himself with some mischief making in the meantime.

The rest of the day was spent dreaming up wild ways to cause trouble rather than paying attention in class.

"I'm craving some good old firewhiskey." He said with a grin when the Marauders returned to the dorm later that day to change out of their uniforms. James smirked as Remus chuckled.

"You're always craving firewhiskey. Can't you crave pumpkin juice or something? The kitchens are easier to get to than Hogsmeade." The werewolf pointed out.

"Oh come on Moony, we haven't broken a single rule yet this year!"

"It's only been a few days, and you've forgotten your trip to Filch's office to steal back Coregard's confiscated dungbombs."

"That barely counts, anyone can break into that stuffy old office." James pointed out. "I know, we should work on the map!"

"Oh yeah! I've been working on a few sketches of the floorplans, I think we have it almost done." Peter said, pulling out a stack of parchment. "All we need is a spell to make it work right."

"I've been thinking about that actually." Remus admitted. "Hogwarts itself is unplottable, but I believe we could use spells as long as it's within the grounds."

"What would we plot though?" James asked, sitting on the end of his bed as he pulled off his school shoes.

Sirius grinned. "The people!" Three sets of eyes sent him a strange look and he chuckled. "Just imagine, that when you unveil the map, you can see the position of every person in the castle."

James's eyes popped. "Can we do that?"

Remus sank down to sit on his trunk, thinking as he absently wrapped his tie around his fingers. "I…I don't know. It would be ideal though. We'd be able to avoid everyone easy if we knew where they were!"

"We can't plot people though." Peter put in. "Students come and go, it doesn't make sense."

"No…not if plotting is all we do. But, we might be able to combine it with a few other enchantments that would make it work."

"What about that identifying spell Flitwick was mentioning last class?" James asked.

Remus nodded, growing more excited as he grabbed a spare bit of parchment and started scribbling. "If we can use that spell and expand it across the Hogwarts boundaries…then every person within the radius would be identified on the parchment we specify."

"What about their locations?" James pointed out.

"That's where the plotting spell would come in." Sirius told him. "Combining the two, we'd get an identity that goes wherever the person is."

"We just have to line it up with the map so that the locations are accurate." Remus said, pulling off his sweater and button down shirt, and grabbing a well worn sweater and pulling that on instead. "First thing though, we need to get the walls on paper with perfect accuracy."

"And how do we do that?" Sirius asked, pulling on a black button down shirt. Rebellious as he was, he couldn't seem to get out of the habit of wearing nice clothes. He contrasted wonderfully with James' orange Chudley Cannons t-shirt.

Peter clicked his tongue out of habit as he thought. "What if we start with a map someone else has already made? All we'd have to do is transfer it." He suggested.

James grinned. "Brilliant Wormtail! That much less work for us!"

"In that case gentlemen, we need a map." Remus pointed out. "I don't suppose anyone owns a copy of Hogwarts: A History?"

Sirius snorted. "No, why would we? Prongs and I will go get one from the library."

"Better hurry, Pince doesn't like you two hanging about." Peter suggested with a chuckle.

"That makes it all the more fun." Sirius pointed out as he and James took off. The boys practically flew through the halls, rushing past Flitwick so fast that the small man hadn't even known who'd gone by. Reaching the library they slowed and forced themselves to act casual. An act which immediately drew Madame Pince's attention.

"Need something?" she asked in a stiff voice, eyeing them closely with brown eyes that were anything but warm.

"Just browsing." James said quickly. Sirius resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Of all the witty comebacks…

"For what?"

"Books." Sirius said as if it were obvious. "That is what a library is for, isn't it?" Pince seemed to puff up like the overgrown vulture she looked like.

"Yes…I expect you to leave once you've found what you need."

James made a face as she left. "She's kicking us out of the library? Can she do that?"

Sirius chuckled and pulled his friend along by the sleeve. "It is her library. I swear, if she and Filch ever get together they will have the worst imaginable child."

"Ugh, don't make me consider it."

The two boys were quick to find Hogwarts: A history as well as a few other – less important – books about their beloved school, and were quick to make their way back to the dormitory. The Marauders had work to do.

_Yay map stuff :D Honestly, i haven't looked up anything on how the map was made, or what spells were used, and i've never read any stories about it. i didn't even plan it out before hand, the methods just came to me while writing, lol. They make sense in my head, though i'm sure others have come up with much better explanations._

_Please Review and tell me what you think!_

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings  
_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Cassie was dreading the potions lesson with a passion she couldn't hide. "I can't believe he had the nerve to-"

"Cassie, you've said that a million times in the last hour alone. Can't you just drop it?" Belinda suggested, brushing perfect blond hair over her shoulder. "Personally, I think you're lucky. You have an excuse to spend a whole lesson with Sirius Black, all to yourself!"

Neither girl was paying enough attention to see Rose's slight blush. Cassie was fuming. "You think I want to spend any length of time with that imbecile? I'd rather eat devil's snare!"

"Careful about that threat, the roots of devil's snare make a wonderful salad if cooked right." Rose said, a hint of a grin on her face. Cassie made a face at her.

"Alright fine…I'd rather shove pins in my eyes." The girl amended, watching Rose squirm a bit at the mental image. "He's so infuriating, how am I supposed to be able to put up with him all year?"

"Is he really that bad?" Rose asked hesitantly. She glanced up and Cassie glared at her and she sighed. "Sheesh, never mind, forget I asked."

Belinda sighed dreamily, gazing across the hall where Sirius laughed with his friends at the Gryffindor table. It looked like James had just been shot down by Lily yet again, for Sirius, Remus and Peter all looked highly amused while trying to be sympathetic, and Lily was stalking away from the table.

Cassie hid a gasp when Sirius glanced right at her, and grinned as if he knew she'd been staring. She glared angrily and looked away, hoping her warming cheeks weren't turning pink as well.

How mortifying…

She glanced to her right and saw Belinda still gazing at the dark haired boy and smacked her.

"Ow!"

"Stop staring at him!" the girl whispered, mousy curls swaying as she spun back to her breakfast. "I need to really learn to sit on the other side of the table." She added in a grumble. "Rose, mind if we switch seats for lunch? And…forever?"

Rose shrugged and nodded. "Sure. Doesn't matter to me."

"Thank goodness _one_ of my friends has sense." Cassie said with a sigh, gently smacking Belinda out of her daydreams once more.

"Will you stop that?" the blond demanded, only making Cassie smirk.

"No. Class is starting soon, I figured you'd want the reminder."

"I do. Ugh, Muggle Studies, how droll."

"If you hate the class so much, why did you take it?" Rose asked her.

"It's such an easy class, it makes my grades look better." The girl said as if it were obvious. Rose snorted as she bounced away and Cassie rolled her eyes.

"Herbology this morning?" she asked, eager to change the subject. Rose beamed.

"Best subject in the world!"

Cassie had to grin at her short friend's enthusiasm. "At least one of us will be having fun. I'll see you later!" she called, heading down to the dungeons.

She had to admit to dragging her feet as she made it down the final staircase. She took her time, not entering the classroom until the last possible minute. Finally, she had no choice but to sink down into the chair beside Sirius.

"Coal." He said by way of greeting, not even looking up from his book.

"Black." She answered, more than happy to follow his example and not look at him. Instead, she turned to the redhead joining them. "Morning Lily, how are you?"

"Miserable." The girl replied, dropping her bag onto the floor with a loud thump. "I have three classes in a row, with no breaks long enough to run back up to the Gryffindor common room and grab books. I have to carry around too much at once."

"What classes?"

"Potions, double Charms, and Herbology." Sirius provided. Cassie glared at him, not caring that he wasn't looking up to see, and moved on as if Lily had answered instead of him.

"That's a rough load. Do you at least have the afternoon off?"

"Yes." Sirius said, as Lily said "No."

"I have Arithmancy after lunch." Lily said with a sigh. "I have just enough time to go up and change out my stuff after eating. It's not too bad."

"Oh you have Arithmancy? I do too!"

"You do? You didn't last year."

"I did, just not the class. I had a full schedule already, but Sinestra was really nice and tutored me privately." Cassie said, a bit smugly.

"Oh good, you'll have to sit with me." Lily insisted, snapping her mouth shut when they realized that Slughorn had started the lesson.

After note taking, they were released to start working on Exploding Fluid, something Cassie was certain was a bad idea to teach to Sirius Black and his friends. He was working surprisingly hard on his potion, and her suspicions were only growing worse.

"What does that third instruction say?" he asked, squinting at the board.

"Powder a cinderbush leaf and add it to the mixture, stirring clockwise the whole time."

"How do you powder a leaf and stir at the same time?" he asked, making a face at the dried leaves in a small pile on the table. The two looked around, watching as some people tried to powder the leaves with one hand, either making a mess of the leaf or forgetting to stir in the process. Two student potions started to bubble dangerously and Slughorn hurried over to evaporate the potion before it could explode.

"I'm…not sure." Cassie admitted. "Here, I'll stir your potion if you powder."

"Really? Oh…yeah, sure okay." He said quickly. She changed her mind though. He may not powder enough…stirring was safer for him.

"Actually…you stir. Here." She said, handing him the glass stirring stick. He took a slightly amusing stance and focused on stirring both cauldrons at once, both going clockwise.

Cassie quickly grabbed a cinderbush leaf and powdered it on the thin metal plate, brushing it into Sirius's cauldron before doing her own. She took back her stirring stick with a sigh of relief, watching as the powdered leaf dissolved, turning the clear liquid a violent orange.

"Wow that's bright." Sirius said in amusement, looking back up at the board. Cassie didn't thank him, and he didn't thank her. Their exchange was happily ignored by both parties, as if it had never happened.

"No fair, can you stir mine?" Lily asked. Sirius scooted around to the other side of his cauldron, still stirring, and took over for Lily. "Thanks." She said with relief, easily powdering the leaf now that she had two hands.

Cassie was proud to see that the three cauldrons at their table were the only in the room that were bright orange.

By the time class was over, Cassie was both very proud of her perfect potion, and very annoyed with Sirius. He was…well honestly, he was being perfectly normal. He hadn't annoyed her once, he hadn't flirted with her at all…and it was driving insane! The moment they were freed from class, she took off, practically running from the room.

She ran into Rose in the Entrance hall and fell into place beside her, mind reeling.

"What's wrong?" Rose asked in surprise. Cassie shook her head.

"Sirius."

The shorter girl frowned. "What'd he do now?"

"Nothing, that's the problem!"

Rose blinked, now looking confused more than anything. "What do you mean?"

"All class…he didn't flirt, he wasn't annoying…he was working!"

She sighed, missing Rose's fleeting grin. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Yes! Well no…it's just weird, I've never seen him act like that before."

Rose giggled in open amusement. "I don't think he's as bad as you like to think he is." She said. Cassie frowned.

"I think he's just as bad as normal…it was probably the potion. Exploding Liquid. He probably just wanted to know how to make it." She said, firmly believing it was the truth.

Sirius was nothing but an annoying, trouble making, flirt. He'd never be anything more than that.

_Figured Cassie deserved some time in the spot light :D And poor Sirius...he's trying so hard, and she just thinks its weird, lol._

_Please review and let me know what you think!_

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings  
_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Rose felt like the days were crawling by, mostly because every little thing revolved around Sirius and Cassie. Sirius occasionally said hi to her in the halls, but only when there was no one around. If he ever needed to speak to her, it was a question about Cassie. And Cassie seemed unable to think about anything else these days. Sirius was being so infuriatingly normal that she didn't know what to do. Rather than complaining about whatever dumb thing he'd done, she would be complaining about whatever dumb thing he hadn't.

Rose was utterly miserable. She was trying to be supportive to both of them at the same time, and felt like she was lying to both of them in order to do so.

She felt like a dirty rotten snake. Maybe she should have been in Slytherin, she was certainly trying to be cunning enough. Of course it wasn't for herself. There should have been a house for cowards who couldn't even say no to a friend or a boy with a handsome smile.

She was making her way to class, hauling her heavy bag along with her, when she felt the weight disappear from her shoulder. She glanced over, half expecting – or maybe hoping – to see Sirius, and saw Remus Lupin.

She'd never been this close to the young man before…she'd never seen the scars that sat on his cheeks, slightly paler than the rest of his skin. He was tall like Sirius, and her neck was starting to hurt from looking sideways up the long distance.

"Um…hello." She said quickly, realizing her surprise had kept her from saying anything. "Thanks." She added, gesturing to the bag he'd taken.

"No trouble." He said with a friendly smile. "You have Charms with us next, right?"

"Uh…yeah. Yeah I do." She said, watching as he shouldered her bag with ease. She knew full well it was heavy, it irked her as much as impressed her that he acted as if it was empty.

The two walked in silence in the direction of the Charms corridor, Rose growing more and more confused.

"Sorry but…did you need something?" she asked. Remus sighed.

"I was afraid you'd guess. You…you're pretty close to Cassie, right?" he kept walking, but Rose had frozen in the hallway, jaw hanging open. He finally noticed she'd stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Fine." She squeaked, moving forward to walk beside him again. This couldn't be happening. "Yeah…yeah we're best friends."

"I thought so. I was just wondering…do you know what she thinks of me?"

Rose resisted the urge to groan and roll her eyes. This mess had suddenly gotten messier. "What is it you're hoping for Lupin?"

"Well, I just…" despite her disbelief at the situation, she had to giggle at the blush on his cheeks. "Alright alright, I'm…curious if she fancies me or not."

Rose felt like she was caught between a rock and a hard place. Now two guys were trying to go through her to get to Cassie. What was she, a gateway for guys with crushes?

"Well, I can't tell you for sure, she doesn't tend to talk about guys she likes." She finally said, glad for the excuse. "She enjoys complaining about annoying ones more than anything."

"I see." Remus said, still blushing slightly. They were almost to the classroom door. "Think you can find out for me?"

"I can…investigate a bit."

"Excellent! Thanks Rose, this means a lot." The Gryffindor said with a grin, heading into the classroom. Rose leaned against the wall, a hand to her forehead.

"Yeah, I'm sure it does. What did I do to deserve this?" she asked the ceiling, leaning her head back until it hit the wall.

"Hey Rose."

Rose didn't open her eyes at Sirius's voice. "Hey."

"You okay?"

"Oh yeah, wonderful." She said sarcastically, opening her deep green eyes to glare at the opposite wall. "Everything is just peachy."

"Jeez, who put your panties in a knot?"

"Boys are so stupid." She whispered, abandoning the dark haired male and heading into the classroom.

Sirius blinked in confusion. "Guess it must have been a bad time." He muttered to himself before following.

He spent the rest of class trying to catch the girl's eye, but she ignored him entirely. She scrambled to pack her things and leave, but Sirius was faster.

"What's going on?" he asked easily keeping pace beside her as she hurried down the hall.

"None of your business." She snapped.

"Alright alright, I'll stop prying. Say, think you could get me one of those Hibiscus flowers for Cassie?" Whatever answer he'd been expecting, what she did was not it.

She stopped short, stomped a foot, and screeched. "Ugh! Is that all you boys can think about? 'Does Cassie like me? Will you put in a good word for me with Cassie? Will you pick me flowers to give to Cassie? What did Cassie have for _breakfast_?' Because that's all I'm good for!"

Sirius stood frozen on the spot, mouth hanging open as he watched her stalk down the hall. What on earth had that been about?

"Girls make no sense." He grumbled in annoyance, making his way to lunch to join his friends. He couldn't believe his luck when he ran into Cassie of all people. "Hey!" he said with a grin. He was even more surprised when she actually smiled back.

"Hi Sirius."

"Is everything ok with Rose? I tried to say hi earlier and she blew up at me." he said, the two of them making their way to the great hall.

"I'm not sure. She hasn't mentioned anything, but she's been pretty…distant lately."

"She's not normally like that?" Sirius asked in surprise. Rose had always seemed rather distant to him when he'd gotten to talk to her.

"Oh no!" Cassie said, with such warmth he had to smile himself. "Rose is the kindest person I've ever known! She's so open and funny, and often just plain silly."

"Really? I never would have guessed…"

Cassie giggled, her lovely voice making Sirius grin again. "She takes a while to warm up to people. But once you can past the front she sets up, she's a lot of fun."

"Sounds like Remus." Sirius said with a grin. "He acts like such a stick in the mud, but he's a trouble maker at heart."

He smiled in surprise when Cassie giggled again. "They sound perfect for each other."

Sirius bit back a grin and looked down the short distance to Cassie's face, only to see she was holding back giggles. "I'm game if you are." He said, guessing the thoughts running through her head. She looked up at him, grinned – and was that a hint at a blush? – and nodded firmly.

"Sounds perfect."

"We just need them to spend some time together…" Sirius said, tapping his chin as he walked. Cassie grinned again soon after, eyes shining.

"I have the perfect plan. Tell Remus to be at the North Tower at nine."

"The north tower? The divination classroom?"

Cassie giggled. "Yes, and something else. Rose will know what I'm talking about." She said with a wink, before heading off into the great hall. Sirius sighed happily and slumped against the wall.

"She…is…amazing…" he said with a happy sigh, not caring when a trio of first year Slytherins gave him a weird look.

"Who is?"

Sirius turned to see a certain pretty redhead that a certain best friend of his had a huge crush on. "Hey Lily."

"Who's amazing?" she repeated, looking at him in curiosity. Sirius didn't blush exactly, but he could practically feel his cheeks warming with embarrassment.

"No one." He said quickly. Lily grinned, giving him a knowing look.

"You mean Cassie, don't you?"

"Well…maybe…"

"I knew it. She's been complaining for years that you were just trying to annoy her, but I knew you really liked her."

"You did?" Sirius couldn't have been more surprised. For one, Cassie talked to Lily about him. Yes it was complaining, but that was better than nothing. It meant she thought about him when he wasn't there, and not just when telling her best friend about what he'd done. Though Lily's knowledge surprised him. For a long time, flirting and teasing Cassie _had_ been a game.

"Of course I did. Only someone whose feelings were real would chase a girl that long."

Sirius smirked. "What does that say about James and you then?"

Lily's smile flipped upside down and green eyes glared. "Go stuff yourself, Black." She said, disappearing into the great hall. Sirius chuckled in amusement.

"I can't believe James fancies her…"

_Hopefully, as it's Friday, I'm not currently distracting anyone from homework =P Rose got to explode, Sirius is more confused than ever, and Lily makes another appearance. I think i'm going to have fun with her :D_

_Please review, your reviews are what literally give me the inspiration to write more!  
_

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings  
_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Rose was starting to wonder if this was stupid. Here she was, nine in the evening, sitting on the top step of the spiral stairs leading to the divination classroom. The trapdoor in the ceiling was closed up tightly, locked for sure. Most students assumed Professor Trelawney slept in the classroom, but her rooms were at the base of the tower.

She listened as the castle seemed to grow silent, the last of the wandering students hurrying back to their common rooms to avoid getting in trouble. The teachers would start patrolling the corridors now, assisted by Filch. Rose doubted the man ever slept, he was too busy trying to catch students breaking the rules.

The silence was eerie and growing worse by the minute. The very walls seemed to whispering that she was out after hours, that she would get in trouble. She hoped the teachers never asked the castle paintings if they'd seen any wandering students, because she'd managed to anger a few ladies in a painting at the base of the tower stairs with her wand light.

She sighed in annoyance as the minutes ticked by. Where was Cassie? Her tall friend had told her that she would meet her here at nine, and she was late? Cassie was never late, that was Rose's habit. For once, their roles were switched, and Rose was growing impatient.

She finally gave up. She was just grabbing the sweater she'd tossed to the side when someone tripped over her!

The cry of someone falling was definitely not Cassie though. For one thing, it was a guy. "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!" Rose cried, hopping to her feet in dismay. Her only thought was that it was a male professor who'd been searching the tower, who else could it be?

"No…no I'm sorry. I wasn't even watching where I was going."

Rose blinked in shock and stared at the boy crawling to his knees. "Remus? What are you doing here?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing. Sirius told me to come up here for some reason… what about you?"

"Cassie said the same thing." She whispered, looking out the window without seeing the distant quidditch pitch. "I thought she was meeting me, but…she never actually said that. Not in so many words." She looked at Remus, who was at least sitting up now rather than sprawled on the floor. "I'm assuming Sirius did the same?"

"Yeah." Remus said, running a hand through light brown hair. "Why would they send us here?"

Rose was bright red, and deeply thankful it was dark outside. "I…don't know." She said quickly. If he hadn't guessed, she wasn't going to tell him. She had a sneaking suspicious that Cassie and Sirius were trying to set her up with Remus.

And she was not okay with it.

"This is a pretty random place to choose too."

"Not if it was Cassie's idea." She said reasonably. "As far as we know, she and I are the only people who know about the secret place up here."

"Secret place?" Remus asked in surprise. "Up here?"

Rose grinned and nodded. "I take it even you and your friends haven't found it?"

"A secret place? In the North tower? Nope, never have."

Rose giggled. "Alright then, come on. I'll show you." She made her way to the window, crawled up into the sill, and jumped right out. She heard Remus cry out in surprise and popped up to her feet from the ledge she stood on. She was so short that her chest only just reached the sill. "Relax." She said with a giggle. "Come on." She said again, moving out of his way.

The ledge was only a foot wide, and the pair were forced to hug the tower wall as they circled it. Rose showed Remus the almost unnoticeable slits in the wall, leading right to the top of the tower. A built in ladder she'd discovered on accident in her second year.

Rose smiled again as she climbed onto the large flat roof of the divination classroom. The stone parapet was only three feet high, but the floor was flat and stable and the view was indescribable. She grinned as Remus climbed up after her, giggling in amusement at his sigh of relief, and watched as he looked around.

"How did you find out about this place?" he asked in amazement.

"Long story…I was running from bullies, and figured I'd hide out the window when they cornered me in the tower. I was just going to stay there until they gave up, but I found the ladder. I've been coming up here ever since." She explained, voice happy as she sat on the stone and looked at the stars.

Remus sat down as well, still looking surprised. "Bullies?"

"Yeah, some Slytherin fifth years. They're long gone now." She added quickly at the look on his face.

"I don't like bullies." He said stiffly.

"I find that rather difficult to believe." She said flatly. "James and Sirius are always bullying people."

Remus sighed. "They're…selective about who they pick on. Mostly Slytherins who are into the dark arts."

"That doesn't make it right."

"I never said it did." Remus pointed out. "I don't join them when they do that."

"I suppose I can give you points for that." Rose said with a shrug.

The pair fell into silence, each with their own thoughts. But it didn't take long for the silence to grow awkward. Remus was the first to break it.

"Did you…by any chance find out what Cassie thought of me?"

"Hmm? Oh! Oh, yeah I asked. Not directly of course…" she said with a shrug. She looked at the boy's hopeful face and sighed. "She really enjoys spending time with you. She considers you to be a good friend."

His face fell. "A friend? That's it?"

Rose grinned. "Trust me, that is the perfect foundation for something more." She told him. "If she hated you, it would be a lot harder." She said with feeling, thinking of Sirius.

He chuckled weakly. "I suppose that's true." He said, looking around. "Think I have a chance?"

"More of a chance than some people." Rose told him vaguely. Sirius was competing with his best friend for the same girl? Did they even know it? She bit back a sigh and looked out over the black expanse that was the lake. She still didn't know how she'd gotten in the middle of all this.

Teach her to become friends with a girl who bloomed into one of the prettiest girls in school.

ooooooooooooooooooooo

Peter was sitting on his bed, reading through the Hogwarts: A History book, and looking for decent maps. James was sipping butterbeer from the collection in his trunk and Sirius was lounging in bed with a smug grin.

Finally, as if the grin was taunting him, Peter couldn't help but ask. "What are you so happy about Sirius?"

"Nothing." The dark haired boy said, too quickly to be convincing.

"Right…where's Remus?" Peter asked then.

"Remus? Who knows. About time he snuck out to cause some trouble."

Peter rolled his eyes. "Remus isn't the type to go trouble making by himself. He'd invite us along for the ride." He pointed out.

"Wormtail is right." James said, setting the butterbeer bottle down on his nightstand and rolling over to peek at Peter's drawings. "He didn't even say where he was going."

"Maybe he's sneaking off to meet a girl." Sirius said with a casual shrug. Peter blinked at him, looked at James, and promptly burst out laughing. James was quick to join in and even Sirius had to chuckle.

"Moony? Sneaking out with a girl? I think if he had a girl, we'd know it." James said, grabbing his butterbeer and swinging it around, making the liquid inside slosh about, dangerously close to spilling. "He's too stiff to hide it!"

"Or maybe…stiff enough." Sirius said, though he was still grinning. "James, I'll bet you 10 sickles Moony was out to meet a girl."

"I'll take that bet." James said with a grin.

"Speak of the devil." Peter said with a grin, looking up when Remus pushed open the door to their dormitory. "Where were you?" Remus shrugged, but Peter's eye for detail caught the slight flush on his cheeks. "Come on… Where were you?"

"Just…chatting with Rose."

James, who'd just taken a large drink, spat his mouthful of butterbeer was spat all over Sirius. "You were what?"

"Chatting with Rose." Remus said again, crossing his arms. "Is that a problem?"

"No no, not a problem." Sirius said, laughing so hard that he didn't notice the butterbeer dripping all over his front. "It's perfect! That's 10 sickles you owe me James. I won the bet, _yet_ again." He said, holding out an expectant hand. James glared at him and vanished the empty bottle, before grudgingly making his way to his trunk.

"Of course Sirius won, he already knew." Remus said as he changed into his pajamas. "He was the one that set up the meeting."

"What?" James exclaimed, for the second time in as many minutes. He spun to his still dripping best friend. "You tricked me!"

"You took the bet." Sirius pointed out, pulling off his soaked shirt and magically drying himself off. "And now I'm sticky, thanks. I'm going to shower. I better find ten sickles on my bed when I get back." He said with a smirk, slipping out the door.

Peter looked at James and laughed. "Calm down James, your face is red enough to fry an egg."

James glared at the door and then at the coins in his hand. "Dirty rotten cheater…"

Remus clapped him on the shoulder. "He cheats almost as much as you do. You guys should really learn not to take each other's bets." The werewolf said, climbing into bed with a smile on his face.

Peter chuckled as he set aside the book and parchment. "He does have a point, Prongs."

"Shut up Wormtail."

_Oy...I hope I don't fall further behind with these. But I'm having issues thinking up ideas for things to happen. Just fun little quirky events which I could wrap my story around. if anyone has any ideas, please share. if I use it, i'll credit you, promise! Also...seeing as Voldemort is on the rise to power at this time period, do people think I should incorporate that more and make it a more major thing in the story? Or should I avoid getting too serious with stuff like that and just focus on the school drama?_

_Please tell me in a review! I'd like to thank Molly the Monster, Hallower, and 62442fanatic for being such supportive reviewers! You three are pretty much the only people who have reviewed on almost every chapter! And the only ones since the first chapter was posted :P You three are so awesome, thank you!_

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings  
_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Sirius was currently elated. He and Cassie had spent all of their potions class talking! Well…arguing, but at least it was over something somewhat productive. They'd been given the ingredients for a potion, and had been instructed to work with their tables to figure out the quantities of each.

Needless to say it had been messy. Sirius didn't know how many cauldrons had been dissolved, exploded, or – most strangely – turned a violent purple. Cassie and Lily were eager to prove their expertise, and Sirius was eager to prove to Cassie that he did have a brain.

At this point, he rather wished that the potion had gotten messed up, since they would have at least had something to laugh about. But still, arguing was progress in his mind.

He grinned as he fell into place beside Remus. "How'd your potion go?"

Remus held up his hands, both of which were the same bright purple his cauldron had turned. "Do you need to ask?"

Sirius had to laugh, seeing that James had purple drips all up his forearms, and Peter seemed to have somehow gotten a face full. "Too few catfish whiskers. They balance it out against the miniature dragon scales."

"Why couldn't you have told us that earlier?" James complained, rubbing at a splotch on his arm. If anything, it was spreading. Sirius grinned.

"Sorry chaps, we were told not to help each other."

"It's not like you were following the rules, I could hear you and Coal arguing the whole time."

"Alright maybe." Sirius said, unable to hide the grin. Remus rolled his eyes, Peter was trying to see his reflection in the face of his watch, and James was just shaking his head in amusement.

The boys first stopped by the Hospital Wing, where Madame Pomfrey was handing out potions to counter the purple dye. Once the blotches on their skin were fading to hot pink and slowly away, they made their way to their next class. When lunch came around, they hurried upstairs to change before lunch.

"What are they doing?" Peter asked, looking over at the crowd by the notice board. A crowd of mostly girls.

"I don't know, let's go see." James said, leading the way. The four elbowed their way to see the new, very large, notice on the board.

Sirius felt his face fall. His good mood punctured like a balloon.

"A dance?"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"A dance!" Belinda was squealing. Cassie looked up from where she'd sat in the Ravenclaw common room in surprise.

"A what?"

"A dance! Oh Cassie, they're letting us do it!"

"Us? Us who?"

Belinda rolled her eyes, flopping onto the opposite couch after kicking out the first years who'd been sitting there. "The Dance club silly."

"There's a dance club?" Cassie asked, blinking in confusion. Belinda stared at her in incredulity.

"Do you ever listen to me?"

"Not really." Cassie said in perfect honesty.

"Fine…well, yes, there's a dance club. Ballroom dancing in particular. We've been begging the teachers and Dumbledore for over a year to host a ball."

"And they're letting you?"

"Yup! We got to choose the theme and everything?"

"Great." Cassie grumbled. She didn't even know how to dance. She looked up and could see that if she didn't ask for details, Belinda would likely explode. And she didn't want the poor house elves to suffer and try and get blood out of the carpet. "So what's the theme?"

Belinda beamed, her whole face seeming to glow. "Immortal Love!"

Cassie's face fell. "What-a- what now?"

"Immortal love! You know, like that muggle story, Romeo and Juliet? Or Zeus and Hera? Merlin and Nimue? Things like that!"

"Right…why this theme?"

Belinda rolled her eyes. "Because the dance is Valentine's Day!"

"Oh you've got to be kidding me."

"You're not much of a romantic are you?"

"Not _that_ kind of romantic." Cassie agreed firmly. "I'm more of a casual romantic, not the sweep me off my feet kind of romantic."

"You'll still go though, right?"

Cassie was about to say no, but one look at her friend's face told her that wasn't an option. "Oh alright…I'll make an appearance." She told her.

"Yes!" Belinda exclaimed, hopping over and hugging her tightly, before dashing off. "Tons to do, see you later!"

Cassie had to giggle as she swept out of the room. A few of the older boys deflated a little once the door had closed behind her and she giggled again. Belinda…she was a special one, that was certain.

She glanced at the clock and grinned. Time for supper, and she'd ask what Rose thought of this whole thing. At least that was good thing about the pair of them. Neither of them would get dates, they'd just go as a couple of single girls. That was always more fun that going with a boy anyway. If you had a date, you were basically expected to spend the whole night with them. Then you had to hop between your friends and his. No, this would be much more fun.

And perhaps…she'd get asked to dance by a cute boy.

The thought made her giggle to herself. That would be the day. Still, maybe she could convince Remus to ask Rose or something.

She did need to learn to dance though…maybe Belinda would teach her if she asked nicely? Actually, Belinda would probably not take no for an answer when it came to dance lessons.

She hopped up and took her things to her dormitory, grabbing a sweater. As tnd of October, it was getting pretty chilly once the sun went down these days. And tomorrow would be the Halloween Feast! She wondered what people might think of the fun little things she'd be adding to her uniform for the day.

That's right, she needed to give Rose her earrings! She dashed back down the stairs to her dorm and grabbed the jewelry, before going back up and leaving the common room.

She zipped down the outdoor staircase that wound around the tower and down to the great hall, soon taking her seat across from Rose.

"Here." She said, holding out the earrings. Rose beamed and took them happily.

"This is going to be the best Halloween ever! I wish they'd let us wear costumes though."

"Costumes don't exactly fit the uniform." Cassie pointed out with a grin, dishing herself some meatloaf and grabbing the bottle of ketchup.

"Oh no, no don't-" Rose cut herself off, watching as the meatloaf was practically drowned in the red sauce. "Have some meat with that ketchup." She said sarcastically.

"You sound like my mother."

"I don't blame her. I still can't believe how much random stuff you put ketchup on." Rose said, making a face.

"Not random! Just meatloaf…and macaroni and cheese…and those cheeseball snacks."

"Don't forget rice, and eggs."

"Oh yeah." Cassie amended with a smile. "Delicious." She said with feeling, eating a large bite of meatloaf.

"Sheesh, have some meatloaf with the ketchup." Sirius's voice came from behind her. Cassie didn't even bother to swallow her mouthful, simply turning and glaring at him. A single raised eyebrow asked her question for her. Sirius got the picture. "I was just wondering if you'd care to go to that Valentines dance with me?"

Cassie choked on her meatloaf and swallowed it, eyes watering even as she stared at him. "What?"

Sirius grinned and repeated the question. "Would you like to be my date to the Valentine's dance?"

"No!" Cassie exclaimed before he'd even finished. "No, I won't. And if you're going, I don't think I'll go at all." She said firmly, turning away from him. She watched Rose's eyes follow the boy as he walked away and waited for her to nod that he was gone before speaking.

"I cannot believe that he actually asked."

"I think he was serious." Rose offered. It didn't help.

"It doesn't matter, it's still infuriating. I doubt anyone else is already asking around for dates." She grumbled, tucking smoky brown curls behind her ear.

Rose bit her lip slightly. "Will you really not go?"

Cassie grinned. "Yeah, I'm going. Already told Belinda I would. But not with him. More fun to go on your own, then you're not stuck with only one guy." She said with a mischievous smile. Rose looked at her with sparkling eyes.

"Cassie!"

"What? It's true and you know it."

_*is waiting to be shot* i know I know, I'm going with the most used excuse in the book to make people dance together. But I couldn't think of anything else! Just let me assure you right now, that it's not going to be a typical dance at the end of which everyone knows who they like and they live happily ever after. Hehe, oooo no, i'm having too much fun messing with their lives. Hey, at least it's not a masquerade!_

_Please please review!_

_Your humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings  
_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Remus whistled as he made his way through the halls, looking forward to the feast. Halloween had landed on a Friday this year, and the night of good food led right into the weekend. It was going to be wonderful after the long week.

He smiled when he spotted Rose and Cassie making their way through the halls, giggling with each other. Though costumes were against the rules, it hadn't stopped the girls from being festive. Cassie's theme was spiders, with a few false ones in her hair and hanging from her ears and neck. Even her stockings looked like cobwebs rather than the usual knee socks. Rose had gone with bats and pumpkins for her earrings and necklace, wearing her house tie as a headband rather than around her neck.

He nodded to them both, though his eyes stayed on Cassie for moment longer. The tall girl flushed a bit, looking confused, but before Remus could wonder why, he'd gone around the corner.

He wondered when would be the best time to ask her to the dance. He was sure that if he waited too long, she would go with someone else. But he didn't want to rush and freak her out either. He needed to ask Rose, see if she had a suggestion.

Oh well. The dance wasn't until after the winter holidays, he had a long time before he needed to worry about any of that. For now, he had to meet the guys to sneak out to Hogsmeade. Tonight, the party wouldn't end for the Gryffindors when the feast was over. And they needed supplies.

"About time!" James exclaimed when he reached the statue of the witch. The dark haired boy pushed away from the wall where he'd been leaning, looking around before opening the secret passage and leading the way down into it.

"Sorry, got stopped by Slughorn." Remus said with an eye roll.

"Ugh, no wonder you were late. That man can talk the ears off a cactus." James said flatly.

"Cactuses don't have ears." Peter pointed out in slight confusion.

"Never mind, Wormtail." Sirius said quickly before James could say anything else. "Come on, go faster! He said to his best friend's rear end.

"Sorry, this is a lot slower when you have to fold yourself in half." James said, grunting when he hit his head on a root in the ceiling. "I miss the old days."

"When we were short? Why would you miss those days?" Remus asked in amusement. James chuckled up ahead.

"Alright, I don't _really_ miss it, but I'm sick of hitting my head."

"I don't have a problem." Peter said a bit smugly. He was still shorter than the other three and probably always would be. But it did mean that he didn't have to duck nearly as much to avoid brushing the ceiling.

"I'll show you a problem when we get out of here." James grumbled. Remus rolled his eyes.

"No you won't, unless you want us to get in trouble. It'll be hard enough to not be noticed." He pointed out.

"Why would anyone notice four innocent boys wandering around Hogsmeade on Halloween?"

Remus would have rolled his eyes again, but seeing as it was dark and no one would see anyway, he didn't bother a second time. "I see you've forgotten that everyone here knows that we're _not_ four innocent boys. We get in so much trouble around town…"

"Don't be such a worry wart." Sirius said, grinning over his shoulder as the path started heading upwards. "We'll be fine. We'll just get we need and leave again, quick as quicksilver."

Remus glared, not caring that he wasn't looking at him anymore. On one of their such visits to the wizarding town, Remus had managed to clip a very old magic quicksilver mirror with his elbow from under James' invisibility cloak. It had shattered and they'd run. He still felt guilty about it though.

"So James? Ask Lily to the dance yet?" Sirius asked.

Surprisingly, James snorted. "No."

"No?"

"No. If I asked her, that would mean I had to go."

"Only if she said yes." Sirius pointed out.

"Which won't happen." Remus added with a grin. James glared at the two.

"It's still a dance. I don't want to go to a dance."

"Oh come on James, you could just join the rest of us bachelors." Sirius said, slinging an arm around Peter and Remus as they reached the end of the tunnel.

"I'll think about it. But I'm _not_ dancing." He said firmly. No one had a chance to argue as he pushed aside the heavy stone tile and they all climbed out, sneaking up into the shop. The boys were all thankful that the place was busy, seeing as it was Halloween.

"Alright, split up, grab what you can, and get to the counter. Be fast, or we'll get caught." James ordered. The four split and each hit different area of the shop, grabbing the popular candies and sweets as they went. It was as if they'd done this before. Which, of course, they had. Remus didn't know how many times the four of them had supplied the Gryffindor house parties, but none of the students had ever complained.

It was only minutes later when they were dumping their prizes onto the counter, to be rung up by the wizened old man in charge of the store. Soon they were bagged and James' cash was being plunked into the old fashioned cash register, and the boys were off again. A handy scuffle near the door proved a perfect distraction and the four skipped down to the basement and through the trap door. For once, things had gone perfectly.

Once everything was stored back in the dormitory, the boys eagerly made their way down to the Entrance hall, where students were gathering for the start of the Feast. Holiday Feast days were the only meals the students had at a specific time aside from the Welcome and End of the Year suppers. Everyone was waiting in the main hall for the doors to open and let them inside.

"What do you think will be the theme this year?" James asked.

"Well, Hagrid's pumpkins are enormous this year." Peter put in.

"They always are." Sirius pointed out. "I heard Dumbledore and Flitwick spent the day charming the ceiling to do something different for the night."

"Not to mention the Pharaohs." Remus added. "You know, the mummy band? They're on tour this year, but Dumbledore invited them to perform here tonight."

"The Pharaohs are here?" a surprised voice said behind them. The boys turned to see Rose. Cassie was determinedly ignoring them and talking with Belinda as they continued past, but Rose had stopped short.

"Yeah, you know them?"

"They're my favorite band!" Rose exclaimed with a grin, spinning happily. Remus noticed that her forearms sported what appeared to be bandages, a favorite among the fans of the mummified rock group. "I can't believe they're here!" she exclaimed before running back to tell Cassie and Belinda the news.

Remus chuckled in amusement, seeing how her boundaries lowered significantly with the excitement. She was much more interesting than he'd initially thought.

"Aren't you a fan of the Pharaohs too?" James was asking Sirius. The long haired boy grinned, flipping strands from his eyes.

"Probably not as much as Rose. I'm not bouncing." He pointed out. Remus followed his gaze to see that the small girl was indeed hopping from one foot to the other, almost shivering in excitement.

"She doesn't seem like a rock type." He said in mile surprise.

"Oh she's got all sorts of little quirks I think." James said with a smile. "She just hides them."

"What makes you say that?" Sirius asked, still gazing in the direction of the girl.

"Because she probably thinks that people would look down on her for them. Tell me, what kinds of things do people know about her?"

"She's muggle born." Peter said first. "She likes Herbology, she's a Hufflepuff…"

Remus blinked in surprise. "No one really knows her at all, do they?"

"Nope." James said, in one of his rare moments of wisdom. "They know the most basic facts, and she hides all the rest from all but her closest friends."

Sirius wore a strange smile. "I wonder if anyone can convince her that she doesn't have to."

Remus shrugged. "It's possible. If someone were to express the curiosity."

Sirius looked at him. "It would be perfect coming from someone with a few secrets of his own."

"Someone who'd talked with her one on one before." Peter added, smirk growing.

"Someone she'd trust enough to talk to again." James said with a grin.

Remus glared between them. "You want me to do it, don't you?"

"And he's finally caught on!" Sirius laughed. "Come on Moony, think about it! How many other guys has she met with secretly after hours?"

Remus desperately hoped the flush wasn't showing on his cheeks. "That was different."

"Not that different. It's settled then. Have fun Remus." Sirius said as he James and Peter filtered through the now opening doors of the Great Hall. The werewolf stood frozen in his spot, unable to believe that all three of his friends had ganged up on him like that.

This was going to be highly awkward…

_o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o_

_First of all, I'm sorry I didn't update yesterday! I had a Greek midterm I was studying for all day and a 5 page pager plus other homework once that was done, so I was super busy. Secondly, I recently found out that my breaks in the chapters have been disappearing when I post them on here. I seriously spent an hour trying to find some sort of divider that wouldn't automatically get rid of . I went back and fixed them, and will be more careful in future chapters, sorry for the confusion that must have caused!_

_And thirdly, I've got almost the whole story planned! One and half paged of tiny handwritten notes, solid. I don't write in complete sentences in my outlines either, lol. i've got some lovely evil things planned. I'm still taking suggestions though if anyone happens to have any :D_

_Please review, it keeps me going!_

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings  
_


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Rose looked up at the cloudy sky and sighed, wrapping her coat more tightly around herself. Remus had asked to meet her atop the North Tower again, but she wouldn't be surprised if their meeting was cut short. Those clouds looked heavy enough to dump snow on them at any moment.

"Hey, sorry I'm late."

Rose turned to see Remus climbing up onto the roof and smiled in amusement. "You were late last time too. This time I was expecting it." She didn't mention that she'd only just gotten here herself.

He chuckled and took a seat beside her, looking at the sky. "Snow tonight."

"Probably." She replied. The silence stretched on.

"So...um… Did you enjoy the Feast?" he asked finally. Rose nodded quickly, glad to have something to talk about.

"The best one yet I think."

He grinned. "Thanks to the Pharaohs?"

She giggled and nodded again. "Yeah." She looked down at her forearms, at the bandage there. She'd gotten the members to sign their names on them! Ramses, Tutankhamen, Seti, and Hatshepsut. The muggles had no way of knowing that the 4 most famous pharaohs of Egyptian history were a music group, they actually believed they had the real mummies.

Remus grinned. "How are you going to get that off without messing it up?"

"Off? Why would I take it off? I'm never taking it off, are you kidding?" she said in her best fangirl voice. The pair laughed and Remus pulled out his wand.

"May I?"

She sighed and nodded. "Fine."

Remus preformed a perfect stiffening charm, and then cut through the bottom of the bandage. They worked to carefully extract her arm and fix the cut, making the bandage as perfect as it had been a moment before. Only now, she'd be able to shower.

He handed her the bandage and she beamed, smiling at it. "I am going to hang this on my wall…probably in a glass case."

Remus laughed. "Somehow, that wouldn't surprise me. Sirius' wall is covered in posters, he's probably jealous."

She looked up in surprise. "Sirius likes the Pharaohs too?"

He nodded, looking at the clouds in worry again. "He's obsessed. Never listens to anything else, I swear."

"Wow…never pegged him for a fan of their stuff." She admitted.

Remus chuckled. "Sirius is very concerned for his image…he's got a bad habit of hiding the extra stuff that makes him who he is."

"Why? I mean…isn't that kind of pointless? If people only know a few things about you, they assume they know the rest."

Remus gave her a look. "So why do you do it?"

"Do…what?" Rose asked, suddenly feeling like she'd walked into a trap he'd set for her.

"You realize that no one knows anything about you, don't you? You hide so much that people think there's nothing to you beyond plants."

Rose flushed. "I don't…" she sighed. "People don't like me when I show more than that."

He looked at her, and as if he could read her thoughts, he said the one thing on her mind. "Bullies?"

"Yeah. Those Slytherin boys in second year? It was only later that they used the whole muggle born thing as their excuse. Before that, it was because they thought I was strange in other ways."

"Like what?"

"Like finding out that my parents could barely afford the school supplies to send me here. Or that they were both Hippies, anti-war, and all about their peace, love, and drugs. Like the fact that I grew up in the back of a crazy colored van traveling around Europe, and I can tell you what kind of marijuana you're smoking just by the smell." She spat angrily. "I was a love child, they were never married… And they still live together, traveling around and singing songs and pretending that the world is made up sunshine and rainbows."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Yes! Well…alright, not really." Rose amended. "It's just so…embarrassing. It's easier not to tell people."

"But that's your parents. That's not you." Remus pointed out. "How come you don't let yourself be weird or anything?"

Rose looked at him in confusion. "Be weird? Why would I want to be weird? I'm weird enough as it is."

The boy only shrugged, looking as if he was searching for the right words in the clouds overhead. "Rose…you're afraid to be different. You're afraid that if people find out that you're not just like everyone else, then they'll dislike you. Right?"

The girl nodded, looking at her knees. "That about sums it up."

"Well…look at Cassie. She doesn't care if people find out about things that make her different." He said with a shrug.

"Yes, but that's because she's pure blood. If she's a bit strange, people don't blame it on her parents."

"And do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Blame your quirks on your parents?"

"No." Rose admitted.

"Then there's no reason to let other people do it either. Trust me Rose, being different isn't always a bad thing. And if people say it is, then it's likely because they don't understand, or because they're jealous. Because the people who make fun of people who are different, are usually boring old normal people."

"I…suppose you're right." Rose said after a moment. The statement was very slowly starting to sink in.

"Of course I am." Remus said with a grin getting to his feet. "I'm off, it'll snow soon and I don't want to be out here when it starts. Coming?"

"Yeah." She said, quickly grabbing the autographed bandage and following him to the edge of the rooftop, letting him lead the way inside. The two walked down the spiral stairs together to the base of the tower, where Rose gave him a grateful smile. "Thank you Remus. No one has ever really explained things quite like that before."

He smiled and shrugged. "No problem. Oh! Before I forget…when do you think would be the best time to ask Cassie to the dance?"

Rose giggled and pulled him into an empty classroom so they wouldn't get caught. "Never." She said, grinning even as she said it.

"Pardon?"

"She doesn't want to go with anyone, she told me. She says this way she can dance with whoever she wants. Your best bet is to meet her right when the dance starts, and ask for the first dance. And at the end of it, ask if you can have the last one too."

Remus looked thoughtful. "You know…that makes sense!"

Rose grinned. "Of course it does. This way, the night will begin and end with you. It's the perfect way to make sure it sticks in her mind."

She thought of what she's have to suggest when Sirius inevitably asked her for the same advice. Though, he'd already asked… oh well, she'd figure it out when she got there.

Remus beamed. "Sounds good to me. Now there's just one problem. I need to learn to dance."

Rose bit back a laugh. "Don't try too hard, Cassie doesn't know how either."

"She doesn't?"

"Nope." The brunette said, green eyes shining. "Nothing fancy at least. Spinning around in circles is the best she can do, so you'll be fine."

Remus chuckled. "I admit I'm glad about that. I've never been much of a dancer."

Rose smiled. "Then it'll work out perfect. It's late, I'd better go. Thanks again!" she said. She stopped at the door, turned and hugged him tightly for a fleeting moment, and then slipped out of the classroom.

She was back in her dormitory soon after, changing into a nightgown and sliding between the sheets of her bed. She stared at the ceiling for a long hour before sleep claimed her mind. She had a lot to think about.

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_Bad news: This chapter kinda bugs me, but I can't get it right no matter how hard i try, so i'm leaving it, lol. Good news: I spent all yesterday afternoon writing, and i'm already up to chapter 16! This story is sooo much fun, I hope you're enjoying it as much as i am!_

_If you are, then review and tell me! I get a zillion hits on this thing, but only three people ever review. I'd really appreciate it if people would send just a quick review so i know how many people are actively reading this. It doesn't have to be fancy, just let me know that i'm writing for more than just my three reviewers!  
_

_Your Humble (and happy) Authoress,_

_Whisperwings  
_


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Rose was practically skipping down the corridor in excitement. Her last class of the term had just ended, and tomorrow, she'd be able to go home for the winter holidays! She'd never been so excited to see her parents. For once, she would really appreciate her mother's kindly given advice about boys.

Sirius was growing more and more disappointed as the days rolled by. She suspected he'd assumed that getting on Cassie's good side would be an easy task. But after the years of animosity between them, Rose had known otherwise. Remus on the other hand was happier than she'd ever seen him, though he and Cassie barely even spoke. He seemed to be making even less progress, but he was perfectly fine with that.

At least she thought he was fine with it. Their last few meetings hadn't been about Cassie so much anymore. Lately, they'd just been talking together late into the night. Their secret place on the roof was snowed under these days, but Remus had shown her the Room of Requirement. There, they met on the fake Divination roof in the summer, though the high ceiling was speckled with stars rather than the sky, and the grassy ground was only a few feet down the walls. Still, she'd started to think of it as 'the usual spot'. That was the code at least, and she felt as if it belonged to the two of them.

Her time with Sirius was different. Always awkward and filled with the odd stretch of silence, the two seemed unable to get around it. They were so different…Cassie seemed to be their only connection.

As such, Rose knew she was silly for having a crush on Sirius more than Remus. She was so comfortable around the studious Gryffindor, but Sirius was the one who made her heart skip oddly at a simple glance from those incredible grey eyes.

Why couldn't things be simpler?

She was about to enter the common room when Professor Sprout herself emerged from it. "Ah Rose! I've been looking for you!"

Rose's mind immediately flew to the worst case scenario. "Is the Fire Blight acting up on the _Gargantua Sonoras_ again?"

Sprout chuckled. "No my dear, of course not. You're little idea worked wonders, the frost flowers being nearby keep the Fire Blight in control. I haven't seen a flame in days."

"Oh good." Rose said happily, flushing prettily at the compliment. "What did you need me for then?"

"Not me, Professor Dumbledore. He wishes to see you in his office."

"Now?"

"Well, as soon as you've dropped off your things." Sprout said with a smile, eyeing the bulging bag dragging the girl's left shoulder towards the floor.

"Alright."

"Excellent. Just remember, our dear Headmaster is quite fond of Chocolate Frogs."

"Um…okay." Rose said in confusion, watching as the woman made her way down the hall. As always, she looked a tad out of place in the stone hallways. "Chocolate Frogs?" she asked herself, dashing inside and dropping her bag on her bed. She decided to wait to change for now, she didn't want to keep the headmaster waiting.

She hurried up the stairs to the seventh floor, locating the ugly stone gargoyle she knew to be the entrance. She stared at the stone beast which seemed to wait expectantly for her to say something.

"Um…Professor Dumbledore asked to see me? Rose Appleash?"

Nothing happened and she sighed. Why would they send her here with no clue as to how to get in? Wait…maybe Sprout's random comment hadn't been so random after all.

"Chocolate frogs?" she said hesitantly. The gargoyle seemed to look more satisfied, though it hadn't moved, and revealed a set of winding stairs moving up to the headmaster's tower. Rose watched with wide eyes before hopping on, feeling rather like she was on a twisting escalator at a muggle department store. Except rather than finding a floor of shoes and lingerie, she'd be finding Professor Dumbledore himself.

To say she was nervous was an understatement. She'd never spoken to the man before, and she dreaded the reason why he may want to now. Had she failed all her assignments and he wanted to scold her for not working hard enough? Had she been caught being out of bed after hours so often this term? Was she going to find Sirius or Remus waiting for her, the last of the group awaiting punishment?

She knocked timidly on the door when she reached the top of the staircase, and a kind voice called her inside. She entered and looked around in interest at the odd objects circling the room on spindly tables, and the books lining each level of the office. A magnificent bird sat perched to one side of the desk, and Rose knew without asking that this must be a phoenix. She was honored to see such a lovely creature, but her eyes were drawn away.

Because as impressive as the office and bird were, the man behind the desk seemed to radiate power and respect. He wore robes of deep blue today, and he kept impatiently brushing his long beard away from the parchment he was trying to read, his eyes twinkling behind half moon glasses. Her nervousness fled when he looked up, only to return at the sad look that flicked across his face.

"Hello Miss Appleash. Are you all packed for the holidays?"

"Yes sir." She said, folding her hands before her. "I have been for days." She admitted.

Rather than the smile she'd been expecting, he only sighed again. "I'm afraid that I have some unfortunate news for you. Please, sit down."

He gestured to the chair across from his desk and Rose stared at it for a moment, before forcing her legs to work. She sank onto the edge of the seat, looking at the older man in confusion.

"Sir?"

"Rose, you know about the man who is…causing trouble in the Wizarding World, yes?"

"The one calling himself Voldemort, yes." She said with a nod.

"Well, what you may not know, is that this man has a great dislike for anyone who is not what we call pure blood."

"I…had heard that, sir." Rose said with a nod.

"As the papers are more than happy to tell us, he is gaining followers, and threatening to take over the ministry itself. What they leave out is that Voldemort has taken to hunting down families whose blood is…what he deems tainted."

At those words, Rose's fear of Fire Blight spreading through the greenhouses faded, to be replaced with a very real terror that sat cold in the pit of her stomach.

"Sir?" she asked, begging him to go on despite the fear in her heart.

"Your parents are safe." Dumbledore quickly told her. "But they've been forced into hiding."

"Hiding? Where?"

The man shook his head. "I can't tell you that, I am sorry. You know the process of being a Secret Keeper?" Rose nodded. "Then you know why I cannot speak the name of the location. I need you to trust me when I assure you, they are in the safest possible place."

Rose bit her lip. "So…I won't see them this Christmas…will I?"

"I am terribly sorry Rose. I can deliver any letters you may wish to send however."

Rose nodded and gave him a shaky, forced smile. "Thank you, for doing all this. They'll hate being forced to stay in one place, but I appreciate it."

Dumbledore nodded and smiled in return. "I know you hadn't signed up to stay for the holidays, but I have already cleared things up."

"I suppose I'd best go unpack then." Rose said with a shrug. "At least I won't have to live out of a suitcase for a month." She said with a light giggle. The man chuckled and escorted her to the door.

"I know how difficult this must be. If you require anything, just ask."

"Thanks." She said, leaving the room and listening to the door click shut behind her. Instantly, her smile was gone, as if it was never there.

The walk down to her dormitory seemed to take forever. She'd known about the circumstances surrounding this Voldemort person of course, every student had. It was all over the papers. Even so, it had never been anything more than a passing thought. It had never affected her.

Now, her simple, hippy, peace loving muggle parents had been forced into hiding, all because she'd been a witch.

For the first time since she'd arrived at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, she wished that she'd been a normal muggle girl.

She reached her dorm and started to unpack, as if in slow motion. Thankfully the other three girls in her year were out, because Rose lost control soon after.

First, it was just tossing sweaters into her open drawer, but that turned to throwing them angrily across the room. She went to pick them up only a moment later, fingering the hole in a sweater her mother had knitted for her.

She'd never been very good at knitting…it was crooked and misshapen and full of holes where threads had come unraveled. Even so, Rose could smell her mother's flowery scent there.

The Hufflepuff lifted the sweater to her nose and took a deep breath, letting the tears start to flow as she sank to the floor and cried her heart out.

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_Not a whole lot of relationship talk in this chapter, but this is a rather important event for the upcoming chapters. Poor poor Rose...I'm already putting her through all sorts of crap with the guys and Cassie, and now I have to mess up her family life as well._

_Oh well :D For those who haven't read my other stories, I love torturing my characters :D_

_Please review and let me know what you think! Even though i know i'll only get 2 or 3...maybe i'll get 4 this time, oooOOooOOoo!_

_Your Evil Authoress,_

_Whisperwings  
_


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Days had passed and Cassie was growing worried. It was Christmas Eve, and she had yet to see her small friend smile once.

"Rose? What's wrong?" she asked, for what had to be the hundredth time that day. Rose just shook her head, still staring into the fire.

Cassie sighed again. Rose was the only Hufflepuff girl staying over the holidays and Cassie was the only Ravenclaw in her year, so she'd invited the girl to stay with her. Rose had agreed, but it hadn't been the fun times Cassie had been expecting.

Quite the opposite. Rose hardly even spoke these days, and Cassie had no idea why!

Finally, as lunch came and went, she decided it was time to do something about it. She left the Ravenclaw common room without a word, knowing Rose wouldn't miss her.

She wandered the halls until she found the portrait of the Fat Lady. She knew it was the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, just not the password.

"I believe you're in the wrong place dearie." The woman said, sounding amused. Cassie shook her head.

"I need to talk to Remus Lupin. Do you know if he's inside?"

"Just got back a while ago. I can't let you in." the woman pointed out, pink dress stretching across her bosom as she tried to look impressive.

"I know. Do you think you could get him to come outside though?"

"I suppose…and who shall I say is calling?"

"Cassandra Coal."

"I'll be back in a moment." She walked out of the right edge of her frame and Cassie sighed, twisting the end of her long braid around a finger as she waited impatiently. Finally, the woman came back. "He's on his- Hey!" she exclaimed as the portrait swung forward.

Remus was standing there, a wide grin on his face. "Cassie? Hi!" he said in surprise.

Cassie gave him a hint of a smile. "I need your help." She stated, getting right to the point.

"What with?"

"It's Rose. I don't know what's wrong, but she won't talk to me. She won't tell me what's wrong, she just…sits there for hours on end." She spilled out, feeling her eyes fill with tears. She was so worried for her best friend; she didn't know what to do.

"Hey…" Remus said quickly, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Hey, it's ok." He said softly. "I'll talk to her if you want me to."

Cassie nodded and sniffed, blushing at her slight melt down. "That's why I came. I know you guys have been…seeing a lot of each other lately."

"Just chatting." Remus said quickly, as if afraid Cassie might suspect it was something else. The girl chuckled in amusement.

"It's alright Remus. You're allowed to talk to anyone you want." She pointed out, starting down the hallway. The two exchanged pleasantries on the way to Ravenclaw Tower, and Cassie let him inside. The two looked around, only to see that Rose wasn't there.

"That's weird…" Cassie muttered.

"Maybe she got hungry?" Remus suggested. Cassie nodded, and they went down to the Great Hall to search the nearly empty house tables. Only a few dishes of steaming food sat at the end of each, prepared to feed any stragglers their lunch. But Rose wasn't one of them.

Remus grinned slightly. "I think I know where she is."

"Where?" Cassie asked quickly.

"The usual spot." He said vaguely, half running from the room.

Cassie sighed in exasperation and sat at the end of the Ravenclaw table, leaning forward to thump her head on the table. He seemed to know than she did, and she wasn't sure if she was upset about it or not.

"Hard day, Coal?"

Cassie looked up to see that Sirius had taken the seat across from her, piling his plate with food. She shrugged, but knew there was no point in hiding it.

"It's Rose. She's been acting…weird lately."

"You mean weirder than normal?" he pointed out. Cassie sent him a glare, but it wasn't nearly as fierce as she wanted it to be.

"Something's wrong with her. Something happened. And she won't tell me what."

"If she won't tell you, then how do you know there's something wrong?" he asked after swallowing a particularly large spoonful of mashed potatoes.

Cassie looked him right in the eye. "If there was nothing wrong, then she wouldn't stare into the fire for hours without saying a word to anyone."

"Oh…that is weird." He said, setting down his fork. "She's usually pretty willing to chat."

Cassie blinked in slight surprise. "Chat? Rose? With you?"

Sirius looked as if he'd been trapped, and as far as Cassie was concerned, he was. "Just…occasionally."

"How occasionally?" she demanded. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Look Coal, her shoe got stuck in the mud first day of school, and I helped her out. And I promised her I'd try and get rid of that stupid nickname someone gave her. That's it."

Cassie stared at him, searching his eyes as if she'd find a lie there. "That's it? That's once, you said occasionally."

"Well I'll say hi in the halls and whatnot. Do you want me to pretend she doesn't exist?"

"Well…no." Cassie admitted. She was just surprised that Sirius would ever 'lower himself' to chat with a hufflepuff girl he'd never known the name of before this year. She was even more surprised that Rose would chat with him when she swore to Cassie's face that she hated him.

He chuckled. "There you go then. Rose is nice and all, but she's not you." He said, his grin slipping into a flirtatious one. Cassie glared, but there was a slight problem.

Her heart had skipped a beat and she could feel the blush on her cheeks. She immediately clamped down on the feeling and brushed her braid back over her shoulder. Nothing had happened. Nope, nothing at all. Because if something had happened, that would mean he was getting to her. And that was one thing she would not allow.

"So you're the reason people know her name now?"

"Well, the boys helped." He said, likely referring to his three friends.

"Even James?"

"Yup. Even James. You know, he's not the jerk Lily makes him out to be."

"He doesn't do a whole lot to prove otherwise." Cassie pointed out, grabbing a spoon and eating jello right from the serving dish.

"He's working on it!"

"Right, because cursing Severus Snape in the corridors is working oh so hard."

Sirius sighed. "He doesn't do that with most of the other people." He tried to explain.

Cassie snorted. "That's not good enough. If James ever wants to be seen as more than a bully, then he had to seriously stop being one. He can pretend he's a hero around Lily all he wants, but everyone knows the truth. Only if he really changes will she ever give him a second glance." She said firmly.

Sirius was looking at her oddly. "So what about me?"

"What about you?"

"What do I have to do to get you to see me differently?"

Cassie found herself looking him in the eye again, and she realized that she'd never known his eyes were grey. "Try showing some humility. The world doesn't revolve around you, you are not god's gift to women, and you aren't better than half the people in this school."

He smirked. "So I am better than the other half then?"

She rolled her eyes, but couldn't help the amused chuckle. "Go stuff yourself, Black."

She pushed away from the table and left, a saunter in her step and a grin on her face. And as she reached the Ravenclaw common room, she had to wonder if there hadn't been a hint of fondness in her voice as she'd thrown him that last insult.

Great…maybe he really was getting to her.

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_I actually really enjoy this chapter every time I reread it :D Hopefully you feel the same!_

_Please review! If i get enough, I may just upload a second chapter later today ;)_

_Your Hopeful Authoress,_

_Whisperwings_


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Rose had gotten used to the peaceful silence of the Usual Spot by this point. The Room of Requirement had even added crickets in the background and a peaceful breeze. It was if she sat on the roof of the real North Tower soon after school had started. Before this mess with her parents had happened…

And so when the silence was broken by the creaking of a door, she was surprised enough out of her stupor to turn and see who it was.

Remus. She'd been half expecting him honestly. He was the only one who knew about this place after all, no one else would find her here. Though for once, she didn't want to see him. She'd come here to escape…and as far as she was concerned, he was intruding.

She turned back around, eyes closing as she focused on the crickets and the breeze. It was easy to ignore the tall young man sitting down beside her, though the gentle wind gave her a whiff of his faint aftershave. It was a good scent for him, she thought distantly.

"Rose…"

"I don't want to talk about it, Remus." She said, not opening her eyes.

"And I'm not going to force you to."

That was unexpected. He wasn't here to find out what was going on? She finally opened her dark green eyes and looked at him, blinking in confusion.

"You're not?"

"No." he said simply, and Rose instantly knew that he understood. It might not be the same situation, but he had been questioned about something he hadn't wanted to share before. "I'm not here to force you to talk, I'm here to ask you to listen."

"Listen to what?"

"Rose…you're worrying people." He said bluntly. Rose had to look away, already feeling the guilt weld up in her stomach. "Cassie came looking for me in tears a little while ago. She didn't know what else to do."

"I don't mean to." The girl whispered, looking at her knees and picking at the hole where the denim was fraying. "I just…I can't tell her what's happened either."

"That doesn't mean you have to stop talking completely." He pointed out with a gentle smile. "Rose, I'm sure that your reasons for being upset are good ones. I doubt you'd stop talking over something that wasn't important." A large, warm hand on her shoulder prompted her to look at him once more. "But it doesn't mean that the other things in your life aren't important either."

Rose's green eyes were held by his brown and she sighed. He didn't get it. "Remus, you remember how we started this whole thing? With the Usual Spot and the tower?"

He shrugged, hand leaving her arm. "Yeah."

"Sirius and Cassie sent us." She said, still looking him in the eye. "Have you figured out why yet?"

He blushed and looked away. "Yeah…"

Despite the negative feelings swirling around her head, a giggle bubbled its way from her throat and a pinprick of light appeared in her heart. "Relax doofus, I don't even know if I like you that way."

He chuckled himself. "I have to admit I'm relieved. I don't know how I would have handed it if you'd confessed your undying love or something."

"You probably would have made a mess of things." She said, a hint of a smile on her lips and her voice light.

"Hey!"

"Remus, have you ever had to turn down a girl before?"

"Well…no."

"Then you would have made a mess of it." She concluded with another giggle.

"Thanks ever so." He said dryly, though his eyes twinkled in amusement. "So Sirius and Cassie were really trying to set us up?"

"Probably." Rose said, shaking her head in exasperated amusement. "And they probably look at the fact that we still spend time together at all, and assume that their plan has worked wonderfully."

"I can't wait to confront them about it." Remus admitted with a chuckle. "Just to see the look on their faces."

She grinned. "Same." She agreed.

"Do you think it could work? Between us?" he asked, and she shrugged when he glanced at her.

"I don't know." She said honestly. "In some ways I think it could, but in others… I'm not sure."

"In what way?"

"Well…we're pretty close already." She said slowly. "But you know that feeling you get when you look at Cassie? That…warm fuzzy feeling you told me about?"

"What about it?"

She grinned good naturedly. "You don't get that feeling when you look at me, do you?"

Remus shrugged, but didn't answer. And suddenly, Rose was unsure if she wanted to know. Instead , she got to her feet before he could say anything. "I should get back…it must be nearly supper by now."

A hand on her arm stopped her. "Rose…please don't close up again."

She sighed but nodded. "I won't." she promised. "Thinking about it all the time is only making me more upset." She said vaguely, not wanting to hint at what was going on in her mind.

Remus smiled and pulled her into a hug, fondly messing up her hair. "I'll see you later, Thorn." He teased, turning to head off to the Gryffindor common room.

Rose watched him leave and smiled softly. She was glad to have a friend in him. Even if he didn't quite understand.

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Sirius woke with a smile the next morning, knowing that he was the first. He'd always loved Christmas. As a kid it had never really been celebrated at the Black house, but ever since he'd started at Hogwarts it had only gotten better. Christmas meant spending time with his friends over the holidays, and being in the best place in the world without any homework. Christmas meant the best food ever, and fresh cookies every day, and having Peeves singing warped Christmas carols through the halls of the castle. Christmas meant presents piled by his bed, cheap little tokes form people to show that they cared.

No holiday could beat it.

"Woohoo!" James shouted from his bed to Sirius's right. The longer haired boy chuckled, sitting up enough to lean on his elbows, watching as James crawled to the end of his bed, to the enormous pile there. "Oh I hope Mum sent her cookie bundle." He said with a grin, already tearing wrapping paper from boxes. Sirius grinned as Remus groaned and rolled over, hiding his head under a pillow at the noise. Peter grinned and climbed from his own bed, grabbing the pillow and whacking Remus in the back with it.

"Come on Moony, time to see what you got!" he announced with a grin, already heading back to his presents. Remus glared at him, but was awake now, and Sirius laughed as the werewolf's curiosity overcame his sleepiness.

Sirius looked to the pile before his own bed, frowning at the tiny box perched right on top. It was wrapped in green paper with a silver bow. Only his mother would send a present wrapped in the colors of the House he was _supposed_ to be in. He sighed and pulled off the paper, carefully peering into the box. A note fell out first and he read it in confusion.

_As you know, my dear brother Cygnus had three rings for his girls for when they got married. With Andromeda running off with that muggle, it is obvious she will not be needing it. We never wish to see it again, you can keep it._

Short and to the point, but what could you do? It was the perfect way to get rid of the embarrassing reminder while keeping it in the family. Sirius's bedroom was the one room his mother would never enter, and while at Hogwarts she could pretend he didn't exist.

He opened the tiny box and admired the ring inside of it. It was silver twisted with gold, a delicate pattern of leaves and a rose on the top. On the inside of the band was Andromeda's name.

"Did someone propose to you, Padfoot?" James joked, looking at the ring as he pulled on a new set of dress robes to admire himself in the mirror.

"Har de har." Sirius said sarcastically, stuffing the ring back in the box and tossing it into his trunk. "It was supposed to be for my cousin, Dromeda. But she married that Ted Tonks fellow and now she's considered a blood traitor. I really hate my family."

"Why do you stay with them?"

"I wouldn't if I didn't have to." Sirius grumbled, sorting through the rest of his presents. "If I had my way, I'd just go live with your family."

James grinned. "I was hoping you'd say that." He said, dropping a letter on Sirius's bed. The boy raised an eyebrow and went to read it. It was from James' parents, sending the usual Christmas love. Finally he got to the part than concerned him.

_Your father and I would like you to invite Sirius to come and live with us this summer, so he never has to go back to that stuffy old house. He's over here so often it won't make much of a difference. The guest room next to your bedroom has been fixed up for him. Make sure you tell him!_

Sirius was beaming before he'd finished setting the paper down. "Seriously? Just like that?"

James chuckled, pulling off the dress robes and dropping them onto his bed. "They're serious Padfoot. Just like them not to even tell us about it before getting your room all fixed up."

"This is excellent! Mother will be furious." Sirius said, laughing in amusement. "I wish I could see her face when she finds out."

It was the perfect start to the best holiday of the year. The old ring was forgotten in the midst of everything else. Remus had given him enough chocolate to feed an army, Peter had given him a set of inks which did different things depending on how you combined them, and James gotten him a new Pharaohs poster and record. And best of all, he was free of the Black family, of 12 Grimmauld Place, of his Mother, and of a miserable life outside of Hogwarts.

Things couldn't possibly get any better.

_o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o_

_Yes yes, I am in one day don't you just love me? Or at least love the chapter? Maybe? Possibly?_

_Tell me in a review! _

_I'm dying here, because I KNOW more than three people are reading this story, and yet NONE of them can make an effort to send even a dinky review to tell me if they like a chapter... I'm also a softy, cuz I still love you all anyways :D  
_

_Your Awesome Authoress,_

_Whisperwings  
_


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Rose almost didn't want to wake up when Cassie squealed in happiness. She opened her eyes to watch as her friend hopped out of bed, shivered at the cold floor, and hopped back into it.

She couldn't hide the giggle and pretended not to see the lighter haired girl's relieved look as she sat up. She still felt bad for worrying Cassie so badly.

"Cold?"

"Just a tad." Cassie said with a grin, eying the window which was half filled with snow. She leaned over as far as she could reach and rapped on the glass panes, watching as the snow fell away to reveal a white world. "It snowed more last night! It must be almost 3 feet deep!"

"It is not." Rose said with a laugh, bulling on a pair of slippers before braving the cooler air outside her mound of blankets. "More like…a few inches."

"It could be three feet high in drifts." Cassie teased, sticking out her tongue. "Hurray, presents!" she leaned forward and grabbed her gifts, piling them on her bed so she could open them from the safety of her bed.

Rose followed suit, glad to hop back into bed as soon as she could. The house elves had lit the fireplace for them, but it couldn't keep the chill away entirely.

One by one, her presents were opened and awed over. Cassie had gotten her a new Hufflepuff scarf and hat, seeing as Rose's second hand ones were faded and near useless. Belinda had sent a book on plants in Greece, seeing as that's where she and her family were over the winter holidays. And Remus had sent her a small teddy bear with a hippie vest, the note simply reading '_From The Usual Spot'_.

Sadly…there was nothing from her parents. She sighed and pushed the hurt away. She couldn't blame them, they could only send letters through Dumbledore after all. They didn't exactly have an owl, and Hogwarts didn't use muggle post.

Today was just going to be very difficult. Christmas had always been Rose's favorite holiday, and this was the first time she'd ever spent it away from her parents.

She took a deep breath and shoved away the lump in her throat. Like Remus had said, she'd just have to grin and bear it.

"What time is it?" she asked as she put away her new things and pulled out jeans, a blouse, and one of her mother's badly made sweaters. It was long enough to almost reach her knees, so she wrapped it tightly around her and held it there with a belt of braided leather strips.

"Almost eleven. I don't know about you, but I am starving."

Rose giggled. "We better go eat before you waste away then." She teased, running a brush through her hair as Cassie finished putting on her new necklace.

"Who's that from?" Rose asked, gesturing to the silver hibiscus flower dangling from the chain. It had been charmed so the colors gently changed from one to another.

"I don't know, there was no name."

Rose had to hide both a knowing smile and an unhappy sigh. Sirius, it had to be. She hated feeling so torn about this. But once again, she shoved the negative emotions away.

"Come on then miss I'm-going-to-die-if-I-don't-eat-soon." She said with a grin, leading the way from the room. Cassie giggled even as she huffed in mock annoyance.

"Yes, oh great one." She said with a dramatic bow, opening the door to the common room. Both girls laughed and passed through the blue and bronze themed room, and shivered as they opened the opposite door. They hurried down the outdoor staircase and breathed a sigh of relief when they got through the next door, thankful that the steps were charmed to not gather ice.

"You know, the Gryffindors live in a tower, but they don't have to go outside to get to their common room."

"Yes, but their dormitories go up into the tower, whereas yours go down from the top." Rose pointed out. "And that would mean you had to be a Gryffindor."

"True, and we wouldn't want that." Cassie said with a laugh. "I could have been a Slytherin…" she shivered. "But their House is in the dungeons, it's probably freezing all the time."

"Exactly. You should have been a Hufflepuff, our common room is wonderfully warm in the winter, and cool in the summer."

"And filled with plants." Cassie pointed out. "My allergies would love me."

"Picky picky picky." Rose teased.

"Oh hush."

The girls entered the Great hall in high spirits, eating a quick lunch. They took care not to east too much, as Professor McGonagall reminded them that Christmas dinner came earlier than usual. The afternoon was spent wasting time helping Flitwick decorate the twelve perfect Christmas trees and the rest of the hall. They even managed to accidently combine two spells that made torches and candles burn silver.

"Miss Appleash?" Rose turned to see Professor Dumbledore standing behind them.

"Yes sir?" she asked, hopping down from her chair.

"I would like to request you to join me after supper. Will that be alright?"

"Sure." Rose said, hiding confusion. He smiled and nodded before leaving again. What on earth had that been about?

The laughter filled afternoon passed quickly, for which Rose was grateful, and soon the few students who had stayed for the holidays gathered in the Great Hall for Christmas Dinner.

Dumbledore looked around at the group and smiled, flicking his wand to change the four house tables into a single round one. "It seems silly to sit so far apart on such a day as this." He said by way of explanation, taking his seat in his throne like chair after floating it down to the table.

Soon everyone had gathered and Rose was watching as laughter took the place of conversation as Dumbledore and Slughorn exchanged silly stories of unruly students. She ate her food in silence, offering a smile or a chuckle occasionally, but feeling unable to reach the level of merriment everyone else had attained.

Finally, Cassie pulled a cracker with her, and bright blue smoke swirled around them for a moment. The cracker had sounded more like breaking glass than a crack this time, and the girls searched for their prizes as the smoke left. Cassie picked up a set of non-explodable luminous balloons with a smile, and Rose was left to the other prize. A Christmas wreath wrapped in red and gold ribbon, designed to be worn like a crown. Her fingers shook as she picked it up.

Her mother used to make little Christmas wreaths like this every year, always acting as if it was a large ceremony to crown her before they could open presents in the morning. And now, she was getting them in party crackers?

The world was mocking her.

Cassie smiled and set the wreath on her head so it would sit straight, not noticing the tears in Rose's eyes. As she went back to her food, Rose knew that she couldn't push away the sadness anymore today.

She excused herself and hurried from the room, but had only gone a few steps towards the Hufflepuff common room when a hand grabbed her shoulder.

"Rose?"

She turned to see Sirius and glared, daring him to comment on the tears rolling down her cheeks. "What?"

"What's wrong?"

"Everything is wrong, that's what!" she yelled. Any guilt she may have felt for taking out her feelings on the boy was hidden by the tide of anger and sadness threatening to overwhelm her. "I just want to be alone right no, okay?"

"No."

"No?" she asked him. "And are you going to stop me?"

"Yes, I am." He said firmly. The hand on her arm tightened as she tried to pull away, instead pulling her in the opposite direction. She yanked against his hold a few times before realizing it was pointless, instead glaring at his back as he led her along. She was surprised when they ended up in front of the Room of Requirement and he paced back and forth, pulling her along with him.

When the door speared, it was steamy glass and glowing with some sort of internal light. Curiosity overcame the anger for a moment as he led her inside.

They were inside an enormous greenhouse, full of plants of every shape size and color. The warm was warm and comforting after the dry cold of the castle, and Sirius had thoughtfully asked that only safe, harmless plants be included.

"Now, what is going on?" Sirius demanded, locking the door and sitting down on a chair which appeared at his mental request. She glared at him, anger returning.

"Why do you want to know? Let me out." She ordered.

"I'm not letting you go anywhere until you tell me what's going on. You've been acting crazy for days. Cassie is scared, Remus is worried, and I know the teachers are too because they've been watching you like a hawk since the holidays started."

"I know!" Rose exclaimed. "And I don't care! My parents are in hiding, Sirius! Voldemort is out to kill me and my family! He's hunting down my parents and it's my fault!"

_o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o_

_I am a cruel cruel person :D_

_Please review!_

_Your Hopeful Authoress,_

_Whisperwings  
_


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Sirius stared at the petite girl before him, eyes wide at what she'd said. Tears rolled from over-bright green eyes, her hair was dull and flatter than he'd ever seen it, and her skin was pale beneath the leftover summer tan. She looked as if she'd spent her days of the holidays brooding, not even taking care of herself.

"Voldemort?"

"Yeah. That nut from the Prophet. The one who's been causing trouble."

"But he's just causing trouble. He's not anything worth worrying about."

"Not according to the Ministry, no. At least, not from what they tell us in the papers."

"But he…"

"Yes, he's more than just a trouble maker. He's into the Dark Arts, he thinks the pure-bloods should rule the wizarding world, and he's hunting down muggleborn families. Welcome to my world."

Sirius watched as she wiped her tears away and could practically see her locking the emotions away again. Oh no, bad news.

"And you're all upset? Why?"

She stared at him incredulously. "Why? My parents have been forced into hiding because I'm a witch, that's why!"

"So?"

"So?" she screeched. "Look Black, you and your family aren't on the best of terms, I know. But I love my parents, and they love me. I don't care how crazy they are, they're my family. And to know that they've had to give up their life of freedom for me? Can you at least _try_ and imagine how that might feel?"

Sirius shrugged. "You're looking at this all wrong." He pointed out, in a patient voice. As he'd expected, the patience only riled her up further. "I never pegged you for a pessimist."

"A…a pessimist?" she repeated in surprise. Sirius nodded, a grin on his face.

"That's what I said."

"How the hell am I supposed to look at this optimistically?" she yelled.

He moved forward and two steps later was directly in front of her, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Are they dead?"

"No." she said shortly.

"Are they hurt?"

"No."

"Are they safe?"

"…Yes." Though the agreement was reluctant, he could tell he was getting somewhere. He led her to the table and chairs he'd pulled up ad sat her down, sitting across from her.

"Rose, you need to look at this from the right direction. Your parents are alright, and they won't be hurt since they're safe."

"It's still my fault." She whispered. Anger was fading, Sirius could tell. But it had only been replaced by the sadness she'd been locking away.

"How is it your fault?" Sirius asked, voice firm, but gentle. At least, he hoped it was gentle. He wasn't exactly an expert at comforting girls.

"If I was a muggle too, they would have been fine."

"Rose, did you ask to be a witch? Did you even believe that you could be one before you got your letter?"

"No." she admitted. "And I know what you're trying to say. It's not going to help."

"And why not? Look at it this way. What if I thought it was my fault?"Sirius said with a shrug.

"That doesn't make any sense." Rose stated flatly, crossing her arms and slumping in her seat.

"It makes just as much sense. I could say it's my fault because my parents think Voldemort has the right idea. Rose, this is just as much my fault as it is yours."

"But…" she sighed in annoyance and slumped even further.

Sirius shrugged and took the next step. "Basically, as I see it, you're feeling sorry for yourself."

The anger was back in full force as she shot straight in her chair again. "I'm what?"

"You heard me. You're moping around the castle as if you're the kid with the worst problems in the world. You're not, you just want the attention."

"I do _not_ want attention for this, how you can even say that-"

"I'm just telling the truth. Cassie and Remus have been all nice and supportive and that's not doing any good, so I figure you want the attention more than anything."

"Right." Rose spat. "Because I want people feeling sorry for me, because I want everyone to know that I feel awful. You're brilliant Sirius, a genius." Sarcasm laced her voice, but Sirius was still grinning. She may not want to show it, but he was getting through to her. Just one more thing left.

"Look Rose, I know you're just feeling crappy right now, but you can't live like this forever."

"And what am I supposed to do?" Rose asked him, tears filling her eyes again as she slumped in the chair once more. "I can't just pretend everything is all fine and dandy."

"No, but you can't lock it all away either. What makes you think that hiding this will make it better?"

She shrugged, not meeting his eyes. "I guess I'm just…hoping it'll go away."

"But it won't."

"No."

"So rather than pretending nothing has happened, you can start by accepting it. It's not a good thing no, but it could be worse. Cassie will understand, and so will Remus if you decide to tell him." Sirius pointed out.

"Alright, but that's just now…what about after that?"

"Live." Sirius said simply. She gave him a look and he chuckled in amusement. "I know it sounds corny, but just think to yourself. If you were to die tomorrow, what would you regret not doing today?"

Surprisingly she didn't scoff at him, instead looking at her knees and thinking it out. "I'd regret not spending Christmas with my best friend." She whispered.

"Exactly! You just need to start living that way. As if every day was your last. You need to go crazy and break the rules and be spontaneous and live life to the fullest."

"You had fortune cookies for breakfast, didn't you?" she asked with a wry smile. He grinned.

"Maybe."

She sighed and shook her head, though her eyes had brightened. "How is it you can drive me up the wall like no one else? I've never even _considered_ yelling at anyone before, but this is the second time I've yelled at you."

"What can I say? It's a gift." Sirius said with a wide grin. She giggled in amusement as he stood and followed him to the door.

"Did you make this place up?" she asked before they left, looking rather impressed as she surveyed the greenhouse.

He grinned and nodded. "I was trying to think of a place you'd like. How'd I do?"

"Not horribly." She told him with a grin. "I could do better of course, but for a guy, and for someone who's not a Herbology nut, it's not half bad."

"Thanks." He said, sarcasm lacing with the amusement in his voice. "Next time, I'll let you do it."

"You better." She retorted as the door shut behind them and faded into the stone wall as if it had never been there. They'd been walking in a comfortable silence for a while before she spoke again.

"Sirius…?"

"Yeah?"

"What if…I don't know if I know how to live in the moment?" The statement may have been amusing, but he could tell she was entirely serious. "For me, living in the moment is reading a good book and getting homework done on time and planning ahead. That doesn't sound like the whole spontaneous thing you were talking about."

Sirius chuckled. "Rose, you think too much. Here, we'll go back and finish supper, and then I have an idea."

"I have to meet Dumbledore first."

"Alright, and once you're done with that, get Cassie and bundle up nice and warm. I have an idea for some good, spontaneous fun."

He looked down at her to see that she now only looked suspicious. "What kind of fun?"

He sent her a heart-warming smile. "Don't you trust me?"

"Not in the least."

_o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o_

_Short, I know. But sweet :) Rose needed someone to tell her to get her head on straight, and Sirius is the best one to do it, lol. I feel so nerdy right now, writing Harry Potter stories with Star Wars on in the background XD And I know it's early, but it's already tomorrow! So if you stayed up late, lucky you! I'll likely post again later today, just cuz i'm in such a good mood with how well this story is going :)_

_Please review, and tell me what you think!_

_Your Excited Authoress,_

_Whisperwings  
_


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Rose wasn't really hungry anymore, and somehow, Dumbledore seemed to know that. He was waiting for her in the Entrance Hall when they arrived.

"Back to your supper, Mr. Black." Dumbledore prompted, and Sirius grinned and left them. "Now, if you will come with me." he said to Rose, turning and making his way towards his office.

"Excuse me sir…but why is it you needed to see me? Nothing bad has happened, right?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "Everything is fine, I just have a little something for you. From your parents."

Rose beamed as they took the spiraling stairs up to his office. "They sent a present?" She didn't care what it was, it just meant she'd having something from them.

"Of a sort." Dumbledore pushed the door open and Rose's eyes popped wide.

Because there, sitting in the office looking as out of place as could be, were her parents. "Mum! Dad!" she exclaimed, practically flying forward into her mother's arms. As the three celebrated their temporary reunion, Dumbledore left them be, a smile still on his face.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

James looked up from his food when Sirius came back into the Great Hall. He sat down and acted as if nothing had happened, and everyone followed his example. Except James of course.

"What was that about?" he asked under his breath.

"Nothing."

"Oh get real Padfoot-"

"Nothing I can tell you." Sirius amended. "It's not something I'll repeat, even to you."

"Well fine, be that way."

"Get over it Prongs, it's Rose's business."

"She told _you_."

"Only because I basically forced her to." He admitted. "Hurry up and eat, we're going to Hogsmeade."

"Oh, cool!" James said. He didn't realize until the food was disappearing from the dishes that Sirius had gotten him off subject. He led Remus, Peter and Sirius up to the common room, where they bundled up in sweaters and their heaviest coats and cloaks, and hurried to the statue of the mirror on the 4th floor. There, Sirius left them and came back ten minutes later with a smiling Rose and Cassie in tow.

"What's going on?" James asked in confusion. Sirius chuckled.

"We're introducing these lovely ladies to our mischievous life." He said with a grin. Cassie rolled her eyes and Rose giggled in amusement and James had to smile.

"Alright then, better get going. If we wait too long, we won't get to do much of anything!"

He traced his wand around the curl in the bottom right hand corner of the ornate gold frame, and the mirror shimmered. Their reflections were replaced a moment later with an image of a tunnel, and James walked right into it.

"Oh wow!" Rose whispered in surprise. "Where does this lead to?"

The second cellar of the Three Broomsticks. Where they store stuff long-term. Rosmerta hardly ever goes down there." James informed them as they followed the boys through the mirror. James closed the mirror once more by tracing the spiral outwards from the back of the frame, and it shimmered until it became a plain old mirror once more.

"How'd you find out about this?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Sirius teased with a grin. Cassie grinned back, a tad flirtatiously, James noted. The boy was floored, following in surprised silence as they walked. How did Sirius do it? James had been trying everything over the years to get Lily to look at him like that, and in only a few months, Sirius had somehow turned Cassie's feelings around.

It wasn't fair.

Soon they emerged into a large room half full of crates and boxes of wine, butterbeer, fire whiskey, and a whole bunch of things James' parents had insisted he wasn't allowed to know the name of. It didn't mean he didn't know them of course.

"We'd best get out of here before Sirius gets a clever idea." Remus said, heading for the staircase.

"Never would have thought of it if you hadn't said anything, old chap." Sirius said with a laugh, running up the stairs, skipping two at a time with his long legs. The girls giggled as Remus rolled his eyes, and James shushed them.

"Stay quiet, and stick close." He instructed the girls, who both nodded. The group crept up the stairs and through the lower cellar, then sneaking up into the pub itself. It was getting rather busy, as family dinners were ending and people were leaving family to spend time with friends instead. It didn't bother the students, as they were able to sneak out entirely unnoticed.

"So why are we here?" Rose asked in confusion, looking around. The picturesque village was lit up from every window, and wreaths and magically lit candles decorated bushes and windowsills and rooftops.

"I…didn't really plan that far ahead." Sirius admitted, and James had to laugh.

"Of course you didn't. You just dragged us out here for nothing?"

"Well no, I just figured we'd decide what to do once we got here."

"Oh let's go caroling!" Cassie said with a smile. James blanched, Sirius grinned, Remus groaned, Peter looked horrified, and Rose was giggling madly. "What?"

"I don't know about you lot, but I'm not much of a singer." Remus said sheepishly. James laughed even as he nodded in agreement.

"But surely you know the words to the songs!" Cassie insisted. "'Snow Fairies dancing around my Tree', 'Santa forgot the Spell to make Rudolf's Nose Glow', 'Everlasting Snowflakes', 'The Three Elven Gifts', stuff like that!"

Rose's eyes were wide. "I've never even _heard_ of those songs." She admitted. "Let alone know the words to them. Muggles sing things like 'Deck the Halls' and 'We Wish you a Happy Christmas'."

"Those are songs?" James asked in surprise. "They don't sound like much fun."

"Alright alright, we don't have to go caroling." Cassie said quickly before Rose could retort.

"Let's just get a butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks and head back." Remus suggested as snowflakes began to fall.

"No butterbeer for me, I'm having a fire whiskey holiday!" Sirius said with a grin.

"I think I'd like to try some of that Ice Wine." Cassie admitted.

"Do they have Eggnog?" Rose asked hopefully.

"I want some cider actually."Peter added.

Remus laughed. "Alright alright. You guys grab a table, and I'll get the drinks."

"Get me a Mint Chocolate Mix!" James called as the werewolf walked off, chucking in amusement. "Come on, I think I see a free table over there."

The six found themselves laughing together long into the night, drinking more than they really should have been. And before they knew it, Rosmerta was ushering them out of the pub for closing. Only once they were locked out did they realize that that was their way back.

"Looks like we're walking." James said with a wide grin.

"Good thing it's not that cold." Cassie said with a giggle.

"Not cold?" Remus asked in surprise, looking at the snow around them, flakes still falling from the sky. "Cassie, how much wine did you drink?"

"Only a few glasses…"

"Try a few bottles." Sirius told her with a chuckle.

"Did I really?" the girl giggled again and weaved a bit to bump Remus. "Whoops…"

Rose laughed, really laughed, for the first time in days. She watched with a smile as Remus put his arm around Cassie with the excuse of keeping her upright. Sirius, who'd had quite a bit to drink himself, thankfully didn't notice. He appeared completely fine, until he'd misstep a bit or weave as he walked. Rose took the same advantage Remus had, and wrapped a hand around Sirius's arm to make sure he'd walk straight.

"You guys are going to be hung-over tomorrow, and I am going to laugh." She said bluntly. Cassie pouted prettily.

"But Rosie, won't you be nice and make me a potion for it?"

Rise shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. It depends how much I think you deserve it." She teased. "I don't even know if I can make a potion like that."

"Get Lily, she knows her stuff." James pointed out, voice slurring a tad.

"She's not here, it's still the holiday, James." The short girl pointed out, eyeing James and Peter who were both trying to keep each other upright at this point. "I can't believe how much you guys drank."

"It's Christmas!" Cassie exclaimed, and Rose chuckled.

"Not anymore, Christmas was over three hours ago." She told her friend as they walked through the gates onto the Hogwarts grounds.

"Close enough. The stars are swoopy!" Cassie said dreamily, looking up so far that she would have fallen backwards had Remus not been supporting her.

"I do not envy you." Rose said again with an amused grin.

"I don't envy us either." Sirius admitted with a grin. "Rose, if you do share that hang-over potion with me, I will love you forever."

Rose was very thankful no one was paying attention enough to see her blush. "Yeah. Right. Sure." She said quickly. They entered the castle and snuck through the thankfully empty halls, and reached the splitting point.

"Trade you." Remus said with a grin, letting Rose take charge of the wobbling Cassie, and he pushing Sirius towards the stairs.

"See you tomorrow, Thorn."

"G'night, Remus."

_o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o_

_Second update of the day, lol. I don't mind, seeing as nothing much happened in this chapter. I figure a filler like this is a good break between all the drama ^^ Now I need to get dressed and drive my brother back to his university. Won't be able to write anything for 4 hours, such a pain -.-  
_

_Please review and tell me what you think :)_

_Your Happy Authoress,_

_Whisperwings  
_


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Rose woke early, though she hadn't wanted to. Her plans to sleep for a week were put on hold though. From the bed to her right, Cassie was moaning up a storm, and Rose had to giggle.

"Something tells me you won't be drinking a whole lot any time soon." She said as she rolled out of bed and dressed in a pair of old jeans and an enormous sweater. Cassie groaned again.

"Don't breath so loud." She complained, burying her head in her pillow. Rose only giggled again.

"Serves you right. Since I'm feeling nice today, I'll go talk to Remus about that potion, hmm?"

"Please and thank you." Was the whispered reply.

"Be back soon." Rose slipped from the room, quiet despite her amusement. Poor Cassie…Rose didn't even know how many bottles of wine she'd had, but she was feeling it now, that was certain. She skipped her way up to the Gryffindor common room and asked the Fat lady if she might deliver a message to Remus. The Fat Lady huffed something about 'not being an owl' and disappeared. A moment later, she was back, scowling.

"He says to come in. Won't even leave his cauldron to come get you himself, the nerve. You could be anybody!"

Rose grinned. "There's not that many of us here for the Holiday. How was your Christmas?"

"Quite good actually, thank you." The Fat Lady said in surprise, swinging open for her.

"Glad to hear it!" Rose said happily, climbing through the round portrait hole and into the Gryffindor common room. "Wow, it is _red_ in here." She said in amusement.

"Gee, I wonder why." Remus's voice came from before the large fireplace. Rose weaved between a few squashy chairs to find him sitting on the floor, his cauldron on a stand and a magical flame heating it from beneath. "Got started early, all three of them are just complaining upstairs."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?' Rose said with a grin, plopping down onto the floor. "How goes it?"

"Fairly well…the potion is actually a simple one." He said, nodding to the open book on the floor. Rose picked it up and read the instructions aloud for him, letting him do the work. Rose wasn't terribly gifted with potions…in fact, Slughorn was probably very happy she hadn't gotten an O.W.L. in it so she wouldn't have to take Advanced Potions with him as well.

"Well well, we finally found something you're not good at." Remus teased as he bottled up a portion for Cassie. The three boys upstairs were probably already feeling better, Remus had done brilliantly.

Rose snorted. "There's plenty I'm not good at, I just don't advertize it." She said reasonably. She bit her lip and made a quick decision. "And one of those things is being open I'm afraid…"

"What do you mean?"

"Remus…that thing that's been bothering me lately?"

"Yeah?" Remus asked, settling down on the floor once more.

"Well…it's stupid to hide it, so…here goes…"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Rose was surprised just how much better she felt after telling her tale to both Remus and Cassie. It had been wonderful getting it off her chest with Sirius, but telling her other two friends had helped even more. It was as if…the more people knew, the less she had to carry herself.

A part of her now wanted to scream it from the rooftops.

It had snowed more throughout the morning, and as soon as the sun was shining, she dragged Cassie outside.

"Let's make a snowman!" she exclaimed happily. Cassie giggled in amusement.

"Not just any snowman." The taller girl insisted. "It has to be a huge one!"

"But of course!"Rose agreed happily. She and Cassie has rolled the bottom most ball for the snowman soon after, and it was almost as tall as Cassie was.

"This could be a tad problematic." Cassie said, hands on her hips as Rose started rolling the middle piece.

"Not really, should be easy to get the second one on."

"Rose, you can't even reach the top of the first one!"

Rose giggled. "That's true."

"I suppose we could levitate it-"

"No!" Rose exclaimed, standing straight and brushing brown hair from her eyes with a mittened hand. "You can't magic a snowman, that's cheating!"

"Then what are we supposed to do?"

Male laughter mad the girls torn to see James, Remus, Sirius, and Peter. "You know you _could_ ask for help."

Cassie grinned, but crossed her arms. "I don't think so."

"I bet our snowman will be better than yours." Sirius boasted, already starting on a ball of his own.

"No way!" Rose insisted. "Come Cassie, I have an idea."

The two teams worked for ages, perfecting their snowmen. Multiple trips to the kitchens provided coal and carrots and things, once James and Sirius agreed to show them how to get in, though a small battle ensued over who would get the single enormous carrot the house elves had somehow gotten.

"Oh no, this is so mine!" Rose exclaimed, snatching the carrot and running from the kitchens, Remus in pursuit.

"Not fair, how come you get it?"

"Because I grabbed it first!" Rose called over her shoulder, giggling happily.

"Not a good enough reason!" Remus called, quickly catching up with her.

"Fine, Cassie and I started our snowman first!"

"So what?"

"So, this!" Rose whipped out her wand, pointed it at the snow at her feet and whispered a choice spell. The snow balled up, which she turned and flicked in Remus's direction. She almost forgot to keep running when he got hit right in the face, she was too busy laughing.

She reached the snowman and Cassie helped her to stick in firmly in place, just as Remus came up, brushing snow from his collar.

"Looks like you got in a fight with a yeti." Sirius teased.

"No, just Rose."

"Oh, that's even scarier."

"You bet it is!" Rose called from where she perched atop the large bottom ball of her snowman. "I could whoop all your guys' butts in a duel."

"I doubt that." Sirius said with a chuckle, only to get hit in the back of the head with a snowball. He spun, only to see Rose still sitting on the giant snowman's bottommost part, smiling innocently.

It was Remus who took revenge first, his snowball hitting Rose and knocking her backwards from her lofty perch. As she shrieked in surprise more than fear, Cassie balled up a weapon of her own, hitting James on the side of the head.

Soon, there was an all out war between the two parties, snowmen forgotten for the moment.

The girls won.

"How did you do that?" Remus asked with a grin as they went back to work on their masterpieces.

"Talent." Rose said smugly. "I am just that awesome."

"Your aim is." Sirius grumbled, still dealing with the occasional bit of snow dripping down his shirt. Rose just grinned and bowed as Cassie put on the final lump of coal.

"Done!" the tall girl exclaimed, turning to see her competition. She took one look at the boys' sloppy excuse for a snowman and burst out laughing.

"Hey!" James complained. "Yours isn't that much…okay, yes it is." He amended when he turned to look. The girls hadn't been able to get the balls stacked properly, so instead they made it so that he was lounging on the ground, head propped on a stick arm, huge carrot nose, and coal outlining a suit jacket. Rose had even stopped by the greenhouse and grabbed a rose, making it look as if he held the stem between his teeth.

"I think they win." Remus said with a laugh. "And I want a picture with that guy!"

"I'll get my camera!" Peter exclaimed, hurrying inside as the others came over.

"I love the carnation in his lapel, nice touch." Sirius said with a grin.

Cassie giggled. "We did warn you that we'd win."

"Did you expect us to back down from a challenge that easily?"

"Wouldn't be as much fun if we couldn't rub it in your face." Rose teased, straightening the petals of the carnation with a smile.

"Can it, shorty."

Peter was soon back with his camera, and the group posed before the lounging snowman with smiles on all their faces.

As everyone gathered to say they wanted copies, Rose looked her friends over. At the beginning of this year, she'd never have guessed that she would be on speaking terms with people like Sirius Black, James Potter, and Remus Lupin…and yet here she was. And although she hadn't been able to spend much of her favorite holiday with her parents, she'd been able to spend it with her friends.

And Rose felt right then, that everything was going to be alright.

_o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o_

_Another Rose-centric chapter, and it won't be the last. She's the quietest and most closed off of the characters, so I have to tell things from her point of view if you wanna know what she's thinking, lol. I do like this chapter though, wrapping up the break from the relationship drama with a nice contest :D_

_Please review and let me know what you think! Every review makes my day that much brighter ^^_

_Your Smiling Authoress,_

_Whisperwings  
_


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Lily arrived back at Hogwarts with a smile on her face. The snow was heavier here than it had been at home, and the grounds looked like something out of a fairy tale. Though…the odd snowmen on the grounds around the road leading to the main doors were nothing short of entertaining. Giant snow puppies, and pumpkin headed snow men, and giant heads which looked as if they'd grown out of the ground. Her favorite was the snazzy looking lounging snowman, though there were dozens of fun ones.

"Someone had a good time this winter." She said to herself in amusement. She guessed the culprits right off the bat when she spotted Cassie and Rose in the entrance hall, and went over to say hello.

"Hey Lily!" "Welcome back!"

"I'm guessing you two are behind the new lawn ornaments?" the redhead asked in amusement.

"Some of them, we had help from the boys." Cassie told her, nodding to the four sixth year Gryffindors laughing over something across the hall. Lily raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Them?"

Cassie giggled. "Lils, get off your high horse. They're not all that bad."

Lily looked at Cassie in outright confusion. "Even Sirius?"

The girl rolled her bright blue eyes, though her smile was crooked with amusement. "Even Sirius." She admitted. "He's still a right pain, but he's not as bad as he used to be."

Lily looked at the four boys again and noticed James looking back. He grinned and waved and she hesitantly waved back, only to be surprised when he turned and went back to his conversation. Only a year ago he would have swept over at a glance from her and insist she'd been staring.

"The world has gone upside down." She muttered.

"Just a tad sideways." Rose amended with a giggle. "You get your dress over the holidays?"

Lily had to smile. "Yes, my mum took me shopping three days in a row before we found the perfect one."

"Are you going with the theme? What was it again?" Cassie asked.

"Immortal Love." Rose said with an eye role. "It's hard to go with the theme unless you have a date."

"Exactly why I was having trouble." Lily agreed. "Famous couples are great and all, but only if you can plan your costume with your partner."

"So what did you go for?"

"I just got a Grecian style dress, so I figure I can be Artemis, from Greek Mythology. She swore to never be with a man." Lily said with a wink. Rose laughed.

"Lily, isn't that the opposite of the theme we're supposed to be having here?"

"Alright alright, I could technically be anyone still. It all depends on who's asking." Lily admitted, brushing long red hair over her shoulder. Rose rolled her eyes again.

"But of course."

Cassie was nodding though. "I went for an elvish dress, so I can be Arwen from the muggle book series, The Lord of the Rings."

"I love those books!" Lily said with a smile. "And the dress must be lovely!"

"Lovely indeed." Cassie joked with a wide smile.

Rose giggled. "You two are hopeless."

"What about you Rose?"

"I don't have a dress yet. I haven't had a chance to go shopping."

"We'll have to fix that. Our next Hogsmeade trip, we're getting you a dress." Lily insisted. Rose grinned.

"Sure! I could use the help, I can't even think of any famous couples."

"You could go generic princess. Maybe some guy will dress up as a frog." Cassie teased.

"Oh shut it, Coal."

Lily laughed as they all gathered in the great hall for her first supper back. This term was going to be a fun one, she was certain of it.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Rose went through a few moments of panic when she learned that the Hogsmeade trip was the weekend before the dance. Surely all the good dresses would be gone by then!

She soon learned that most girls were ordering their dresses by mail. Rose wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing really. She'd be stuck with a local dress as it was, and would probably blend into the wall beside all the other girls.

She wasn't sure that was a bad thing. She wasn't really a girl who enjoyed standing out.

Though…getting noticed a little might be nice.

And by the time she was on her way back from Hogsmeade with Cassie and Lily, she wasn't sure which would happen.

"I bet all the boys will be lining up to dance with you." Lily said with a smile.

"Good thing you know how to dance." Cassie said with a laugh.

"Oh stop it, both of you." Rose said, blushing a brilliant red.

"Aw, look, she's blushing!" Cassie teased, pinching Rose's cheek with a motherly coo. Rose brushed her hand away, readjusting the bagged dress in her arms.

"I'm going to go put this away." She said with a laugh, heading off towards the Hufflepuff common room.

She'd barely gotten three steps down the next hall when she was stopped. "Yes?" she asked the Ravenclaw boy before her. He grinned, looking highly embarrassed, and fixed his eyes somewhere over her left shoulder.

"Hey Rose…I don't know if you know who I am but…"

"Sure I do, you're Sam Westwraith." She shrugged at his surprised look. "You're in the same house and year as my friend Cassie."

"Oh! Well…um, it's nice to meet you."

Rose had to giggle in amusement and his cheeks turned red. "Nice to meet you Sam. Did…you need something?"

"No! Well…I was wondering… do you have a date to the dance?"

"Do I what?" she repeated in surprise. Over Sam's shoulder, she saw the four Gryffindors going by. At Sam's words, Sirius stopped short while his three friends moved on. Like she needed an audience for this…

"Have a date to the dance? Because if you don't…"

Rose blushed cherry red. "Oh…sorry Sam, but I kind of promised my friend that we'd be going together already." She said quickly. He didn't have to know that her friend was Cassie. The crestfallen look on his face made her wilt. "But…if you'd like to dance a number with me, I'd be more than happy to."

"Really?"

She giggled and nodded. "Yes really. I'll see you at the dance Sam." She said warmly, moving past him and heading towards the common room.

She purposely didn't look in Sirius's direction, but he ended up at her side a moment later anyway. "Did you just get asked to the dance?"

Rose was still feeling rather shell shocked, and nodded jerkily. "I think I did."

"Not a bad looking guy to go with."

"I think…I also said no."

"You said what?"

Rose looked over her shoulder to see that Sirius had stopped short again. "What?"

"You actually said no?"

"Well, I said yes to _a_ dance, just not the whole night."

"How come?"

Rose glanced at him and started walking again. "Because…well, I don't even know him."

"And you can't get to know a guy at a dance."

"I never said that…but it could be really weird. What if things ended up being really awkward and we were stuck together all evening?"

"I suppose that's true. Still, I can't believe you said no."

"Why?" she asked, watching as he fumbled for a reason. "Because you didn't expect that maybe I'd rather go with someone else? Because you never thought that I'd have any other choices?"

He hadn't said as much, but the look on his face proved that that had been exactly what he'd been thinking.

"Sirius…just because I don't have a ton of options doesn't mean I'm going to just take the first guy that comes along." She pointed out.

"I know that." He said quickly. "I just… Who is it you'd rather go with?"

Rose flushed deep red once more. "None of your beeswax." She said primly, hurrying down the hall and escaping into the common room.

Because honestly…she wasn't sure if she knew the answer anymore.

_o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o_

_I know I know, not a lot has happened lately. Sorry about that. It'll be getting good soon, I promise! Also, sorry for the late update. I didn't bring my laptop to school today in order to force myself to read, lol._

_Your Excited Authoress,_

_Whisperwings  
_


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Sirius tugged at his high collar, though resisted the temptation to unbutton it. In his Prince Charming costume, it would be uncharacteristic to be as laid back as he normally was. He wore a blue jacket over his loose white shirt and plain brown breeches. Gold embroidery made him looked even flashier, and his shoulder length black hair looked absolutely stunning. If he did say so himself.

Not that he'd had to, he'd been told as much by three different girls so far. And the dance hadn't even officially started yet.

He looked at James and had to laugh. He looked very pompous and uncomfortable at the same time, dressed in the dress robes he'd gotten for Christmas. He kept huffing and glaring at the room, as if it had brought him here without his permission.

"Relax, you don't have to stay all night."

"I don't plan on it." James said. "What if someone asks me to dance?" he said, voice slightly high pitched in his panic at the thought. Sirius laughed.

"I'll advise them against it." He promised. Remus soon arrived himself, dressed in a generic prince's costume similar to Sirius's. "Decide who you were yet?"

"No." the werewolf said with a shrug. "And I don't plan on it. What about you?"

"Prince Charming, so I'll be a perfect fit with any princess who happens my way." Sirius said, surveying the crowd of lovely young ladies before them. "What about you Peter? Hope you find your Juliet tonight?" Sirius asked with a chuckle, looking at the ridiculous outfit the shorter boy wore, even including the silly puffed shorts and tights. Peter glared up at him.

"I might, shut up."

"Alright alright. When is thing going to start anyway?"

"Yeah." James grumbled. "The sooner it starts, the sooner I can leave."

Sirius didn't get a chance to reply when Belinda took the stage. She looked incredibly beautiful in her green dress, real vines twisting around a bare arm, through her golden curls, and down around the wide skirt. She matched her date perfectly, who wore silvery dress robes with more vines. And hanging fro the vines on Belinda's skirt were tiny red apples. Adam and Eve apparently, Sirius thought with a smile.

"Welcome everyone to the first annual Hogwarts Ball, A Night of Immortal Love!" Belinda said, smiling brightly at the polite applause. "Refreshments may be found on the table to your left, and the music won't stop until the dance ends at exactly midnight. And remember everyone, to enjoy your Valentine's Day Dance, and have a wonderful time!" She gracefully stepped down and took her date's hand, and the two spun out onto the dance floor as the music started.

Sirius looked around as people started to disperse. Many went straight for the refreshment table, an excuse to not dance quite yet. Others milled around the dance floor as couples slowly gained the courage to join Belinda and her partner.

Across the room, Sirius spotted Cassie and had to smile. She wore a lovely flowing blue dress with wide fluttering sleeves and silver jewelry curling like plant vines. Her hair was slightly looped around an elaborate silver headdress, and she looked gorgeous. He'd have to ask what character she was playing.

He blinked when he saw Remus appear at her side, and watched as he spoke and she answered. It was when she placed in her hand in his that Sirius realized that Remus had asked her to dance and he frowned. As the two made their way onto the dance floor, Sirius looked to the girl Cassie had been talking to and blinked in surprise.

It was Rose! She looked lovely in her dress of gold, a rose pinned over her heart. Her deep brown hair was gently curled to hang over one shoulder, a gold circlet sitting on her forehead. Sirius didn't know what character she was pretending to be, but he didn't much care either as his eyes trailed over her bare shoulders. It was nothing he'd have expected from the shy Hufflepuff girl he was coming to know.

He edged around the dance floor, eying Remus and Cassie as they slowly spun in place, and ended up at the short girl's side, sitting in the chair beside her. "What are they doing?"

Rose glanced at him in surprise when he sat down and had to hide a sigh. "Dancing." She pointed out flatly. He couldn't have started the conversation with a compliment to her dress, or at least a hello? No, of course not, because Cassie was in the room.

"Obviously, I mean why is Remus asking her to dance and not you?"

Rose raised an elegant eyebrow, sitting up a tad straighter. "Remus is free to dance with whoever he likes." She informed him, trying not to admire the way his hair fell carelessly perfect across his grey eyes He was easily the best looking guy in the room. And he obviously knew it. "So what if he chose her?"

"I just figured…"

"We're not a couple or anything Sirius." She said bluntly. "Though he at least took the time to talk to me as a person rather than an informant." She added with a grumble.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." She said quickly. He glanced at her and smiled, and she had to force herself not to glare.

"You look lovely." He said, with that horribly evil, yet bone melting smile of his. Rose was really starting to hate that smile.

"Thank you." She said, knowing her cheeks were pink.

"Who are you? Your costume I mean?"

"It's from a muggle fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast."

"I've never heard of it, what's it about?"

"Basically…a selfish prince was punished by an enchantress, and turned into a Beast. He wouldn't turn back until he could fall in love, and be loved in return. One day, a man is caught on the grounds, stealing one of the roses from the garden. In exchange for letting the man live, he had to send his daughter to the castle instead. And eventually, the girl and the Beast fall in love, and the spell is broken." She had to smile. "The longer story is much better, it's my favorite."

"So you're the girl?"

"Belle." She supplied. "French for Beauty."

"I see, and who is your Beast?" he asked with a smirk. Rose rolled her eyes and repeated the phrase Cassie had used at the dress shop.

"All men are beasts, I can take my pick."

"I could agree with that." Sirius admitted, glaring at Remus. "Why her? Why is he dancing with her of all people?"

"Maybe he fancies her." Rose pointed out.

"Maybe…that'll make things complicated." Sirius grumbled.

Rose sighed and rolled her eyes. "Look Sirius…Cassie is very pretty, and you know you're not going to be the only guy having an interest in her, don't you?"

"Well yeah-"

"And you've suspected that Remus might feel that way about her, you told me yourself."

"But-"

"But nothing. Sirius…have you ever heard the phrase 'don't put all your eggs in one basket'?"

"Is that a muggle thing?"

"Yeah…in your case, think of it as 'Don't bet all of your gold on one player'."

He looked at her in slight surprise, but before he could say a word, Cassie was there. The song had ended without them even noticing.

"You two alright?" she asked, taking a seat on Sirius's other side.

"Fine." The two said quickly. Sirius went on. "We were just discussing the drama some people have to go through at dances."

"Like what?"

"Them." Rose invented quickly, pointing at two girls on the other side of the room. They both wore blue dresses and what appeared to be glass heels. "They wore the same costume in order to match Derek Coswell, who is the Prince. They've both been trying to get his attention for weeks now, without even knowing the other existed. Now, they're both angry that they have competition."

Cassie giggled in amusement. "Sounds silly to me. Why do people bother with such drama, when it's pointless and stupid?"

Rose eyed Sirius and then Remus across the room. "That is an excellent question."

"That's why it's dumb to try and come to a dance with a date. You're stuck with the same person all night, and you have no freedom." She giggled in amusement. "That's the best thing about having Rose for a friend, she never has a date either." She told Sirius.

Rose's lips parted in surprise and slight hurt. "I…what?" she asked in a near whisper.

Cassie's eyes widened and she shook her head. "Oh no Rose, I didn't mean-"

"Of course you didn't." Rose whispered, standing quickly. She didn't look at either Sirius or Cassie as she left. Cassie really thought that Rose couldn't get a date? She honestly thought of Rose as nothing more than the sidekick? Someone not good enough to get the attention of the males? Rose had always wondered if Cassie had felt that way, especially when she'd bloomed into her lovely self over that summer a few years back. Rose had always wondered if she just kept her short friend around because she was a handy excuse to not have a boyfriend, or just because she felt sorry for her.

She shook her head. She knew she was being silly and over-reacting. But she couldn't help that the offhand statement had made her feel terrible. Like she wasn't good enough. True or not, Rose often felt as if she wasn't worth noticing. Hearing her friend practically confirm it only made her feel that way even more.

She needed a drink or something to get rid of the awful lump in her throat, and wondered if she should even bother staying for the rest of this stupid dance. She wasn't sure she could actually enjoy it anymore.

_o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o_

_Yay the drama has started again! Huzzah! I do love drama :D And it's only going t get worse! Or better, depending on how you look at it =P_

_So my laptop is dead. Death by a lot of spilled juice . I almost lost everything, including the chapters for this story, but I managed to make it start long enough to copy important files onto my external harddrive. If i hadn't gotten those, i wouldn't have even had time to rewrite chapters until this weekend sometime. So thank your lucky stars that I could save everything! Right after i got my files cop[ied over, the laptop shut off again. I think it's safe to say that It's dead -.- not only that, but i spent all evening working on a 7 page paper on medieval castles and almost lost that! THEN my printer wanted to eat paper rather than print said essay. And than I couldn't find the pen for my tablet._

_I need cheering up, please review!_

_Your Annoyed Authoress,_

_Whisperwings_


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Sirius watched as Rose swept away, graceful even in her hurry to get away. Cassie bit her lip and sighed.

"Oh dear…I wish I had worded that better."

"It did sound rather harsh."

"I know! I only meant it was nice to know that I'd be able to spend time with her whenever stuff like this happened. Not that…oh bugger, I don't even want to know what kind of things it could have meant."

"You know she got asked to the dance last week?" Sirius told her. Surprised blue eyes found his face and he nodded. "That Sam Westwraith guy in Ravenclaw asked her. She turned him down."

"Why?"

"Well, she told him it was because she'd agreed to go with her friend already."

"She meant me?"

"I think so." Sirius said, looking back at the dancers. Though, her other statements still rang in his mind. That she'd had her eye on someone else. He was very curious as to who, and wondered if it was Remus. That would explain why she'd seemed so angry about Remus and Cassie dancing.

"Wonderful, now I'm keeping my best friend from dates. I feel horrible, I never meant to do any of that." Cassie admitted. "I have to go find her and apologize."

Sirius pushed her back into her seat before she could go anywhere. "Cas, if she didn't tell you about Sam's invite, she won't be very happy that I did."

"I suppose that's true. But I still need to explain what I meant just now."

Sirius didn't want Cassie to leave, but couldn't think of an excuse. But when he spotted Rose in conversation with Remus, he grinned.

"Leave her be, she's busy." Cassie followed his gaze and smiled.

"They do go so well together." She said with a smile. Sirius's grin widened. That meant Cassie's eye wasn't on Remus, good.

"I think so too."

"Where do you think they go? The Usual Spot? Isn't that what they call it?"

Sirius shrugged. "I'm not sure." He wasn't sure it was his business either.

"I always thought it meant the Divination tower, but there's no way you can climb that ladder in the snow we've had lately." She went on.

"I suppose that's true."

"Do they just talk?"

"I guess so, Remus said so." Sirius said with a nod.

"I hope I can find a guy like that. I love being able to just sit back and chat. I'm surprised Rose visits with him so much, she's usually more of the silent type."

"A good listener?" Sirius supplied.

"Yes, but no at the same time. She always told me that she wanted a guy who she could just sit in silence with. I agree of course, but I'd much rather talk, wouldn't you?"

"Sure." Sirius said, hiding a frown. It was an outright lie. The truth was, he agreed with Rose. He'd never been one to want to fill the silence with words.

He looked up and spotted James, looking absolutely miserable, and chuckled. "If you'll excuse me, I think James could use some company." He said with an elegant bow, heading off around the dance floor.

As he leaned against the wall beside his friend, he smiled. "Bored?"

"Not bored, I just hate this. I'm going to get another one of those tiny sandwiches they have." James said with a grumble. Sirius grabbed his arm and turned him right around, pointing to a certain redhead sitting by herself.

"No more food James, just go ask Lily to dance."

"What? I don't know how!"

"You know how to put your right hand on her waist and take her other hand in yours. Then spin, that's all you have to know."

James grimaced, but finally nodded. "I _do_ have a line already." He admitted. Sirius laughed.

"Then go!" he said, pushing him gently. He watched as James made his way over to the girl, and moved closer to listen.

"And you must be Helen of Troy, where is your Paris?"

"I'm not Helen." Lily said with a shrug, though Sirius could see she didn't look annoyed so much as surprised. "Not really… I'm not anyone in particular."

"Then you won't mind if I request a dance?" James offered holding out a hand. Lily stared at it for a moment before nodding and hesitantly taking it. James looked a tad surprised for a moment before a grin spit his face and he led her to the dance floor. Sirius had to chuckle when Lily put his hand on her waist for him, smiling in amusement as she did so.

They might just have a chance after all.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Rose was on her way to the refreshment table when she ran – almost literally – into Remus. "How'd it go?" she asked with a faint smile. Cassie's words were still swirling around in her mind, despite telling herself multiple times that Cassie hadn't likely meant it in a mean way.

"Wonderfully! I asked her for the last dance, just like you suggested, and she said yes!" the boy said with a grin. Rose had to giggle in amusement. "She's so nice to talk to, we just chatted the whole song."

Rose shook her head and gestured to where Cassie sat, Sirius having left to rescue James from the wall's hold. "Then why don't you talk with her some more?" she suggested. He grinned and nodded, but first took her hand and squeezed her fingers.

"You look really pretty, Rose." He said softly, before going to sit by her friend. Rose smiled softly and turned back around. Though she was a bit confused. Why would anyone want to talk during a dance? Wasn't the whole point of a dance to just…be with someone else? She supposed one could talk, but it didn't really seem to be the place to her.

Cassie wouldn't have minded, Rose knew. She'd always been more of the casual relationship kind of girl. She wanted to be friends more than anything. She didn't like the big sweeping gestures of affection or fancy dances. And she loved a good conversation more than sitting in silence.

Rose reached the refreshment table and made her way along it, grabbing a crystal glass of punch and a napkin of cookies as she went. Everything looked so lovely…she was scared to cut the beautiful cake, it looked too perfect to eat!

"Lookie here, Applesause is pigging out."

Rose closed her eyes before turning around to glare at the seventh year Slytherin boy towering over her. "What do you want?" she demanded.

The boy chuckled in dark amusement, looking over his shoulder at the shorter, but wider, young man there. "She's got some fire tonight, doesn't she? I wouldn't take that tone with me." he said as he turned back to her.

Rose, already upset, glared, green eyes sparking with anger. "I'll speak with you however I want to." She snapped. "You can't do anything to me here, not in front of everybody."

The boy only seemed to take the statement as a challenge, a cruel smile crawling across thin lips. "That's a very pretty dress…who are you pretending to be?"

"Belle, from Beauty and the Beast." She said softly, eying him as he drew nearer.

"What is that? A _muggle_ story? A story you learned from your stupid parents? What, did they make it up while they were on drugs one day?"

Rose's wariness fled – which on reflection was her downfall – and her glare returned. "Shut _up_ about my parents." She hissed.

"Such a pretty dress…" He said with a smirk. "Pity it's about to get ruined."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Lily had never guessed this moment would arrive. Ever. Here she was, at a dance on Valentine's Day, dancing with James Potter. She was flabbergasted as to why she'd agreed to this dance, it was most inconvenient considering her oath to never speak civilly with the young man.

And yet here she was, letting him lead her in circles as the song played in the background.

And his hazel eyes were surprisingly nice to gaze into from this short distance…

She was in the process of shaking herself from such thoughts when she saw something no one else did. A tall boy pulled his wand from under his robes and point it at the wide-eyed Rose, his spell pushing her backwards. Everyone heard the crash and turned to see Rose lying on what used to be the refreshment table, her lovely dress covered with food stains and the fabric dripping with punch.

The great hall went silent as the tall Slytherin boy went to help her up. Lily moved at the same time, arriving just in time to hear Rose snap at the boy not to touch her. The short girl looked around the room with tears in her dark green eyes, before fleeing altogether.

"What happened?" James asked in her ear.

"Those boys…one of them attacked Rose." She whispered in horror, turning to see James frowning.

"I knew it…I knew they'd been bullying someone and warned them not to, but they did it anyway." He said. Lily raised an eyebrow and he shrugged. "I'll have to make sure they never do it again. Excuse me." he lifted her fingers to brush his lips against them before leaving.

Lily watched in wonder. Had James Potter really turned his act around? She'd believe it when she saw it.

Until then…she was just worried for the small girl she'd come to consider a friend.

_o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o_

_Alright, i'm being both super nice and super mean to you guys, lol. Super nice because I posted twice today. Super mean because I won't be updating tomorrow and i'm leaving you hanging here. Also, I'm super nice cuz I sketched Rose's dress for ya! And colored it, lol. You can find the link at the bottom of my profile if you wish to see :D_

_Please please review and tell me what you think!_

_Your Evil Authoress,_

_Whisperwings_


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

"Stupid stupid stupid…" Rose said to herself, trying and failing to stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks. She was sure she'd never felt so brainless. To believe that she could attend a dance and be swept off her feet. She'd been daydreaming for days that this would be a magical night that would change everything, and what had she gotten?

A disaster. Sirius was angry at Remus for dancing with Cassie, Remus was glowing after having danced with Cassie, and Rose had been left in the background once more. Only to be thrust into the spotlight by those stupid Slytherin boys.

"Rose!" she heard someone call behind her. She turned to glare at the figure jogging towards her, blinking away tears to see Sirius.

"Please don't Sirius, just go away." She begged, turning away and once more making her way towards the Hufflepuff common room. "I just want to change out of this sticky dress, shower, and cry myself to sleep."

Sirius caught up with her and stood directly in her way, a hand on either shoulder. "Rose, what happened?"

"A couple of jerks happened." She said angrily, wiping tears from her face only for them to be replaced moments later. "Sirius, please just let me go."

"No." he said, pulling her into a hug.

Rose wanted to fight it, she really did. But the kind gesture was the final straw and her bottled sobs forced their way out into the open. She tried to push away, but he only hugged her closer. Soon, she could only lean against him and cry, letting him keep her upright.

As she slowly calmed, he loosened his hold and looked down at her. He pulled out the handkerchief he'd used to decorate his breast pocket and handed it to her, making her giggle wetly.

"Thanks." She whispered, burying her face in the white cloth that smelled of his cologne. "Can I go now?"

"Nope." He said, almost brightly. "Come on, I'm going to show you something. If you go back to your room now, you may never come out." He teased, instead wrapping an arm around her shoulders and leading her down a side hall and through a hidden door she'd never found before.

"So?" she asked miserably as they started climbing stairs.

"So, you'd hate this night forever. It can't get any worse, right?"

"That's debatable." She said flatly. "Why are you being so nice?"

"Because it's safer on my enrollment that I not go after the two that did this to you." Sirius said, a hint of a growl in his voice.

"Alright… so where are we going?"

"Back to the dance."

"What?" she stopped short, pulling against his hold. "I'm not going back Sirius, I'm a disaster!"

"Relax and just trust me for once, will you?" he said with a grin.

"That'll never happen." She said, though the urge to smile back shot through her as she said it. Considering everything that had happened, it was easy to fight, but it was an improvement to the urge to do nothing but cry in the shower.

Finally they reached the top of the tightly winding staircase and a door, which Sirius pushed open. There, they found a small area which seemed to be perched high on a side wall of the Great Hall, directly below the magic ceiling. Rose stepped forward as her curiosity overcame her, peering over the railing to see the dance still going on below them.

"What is this place?" she asked, watching as the refreshment table was restocked by a few house elves. No one could see the balcony from the floor, it just looked like another bit of the carving on the walls. Rather than watch as her 'accident' was cleaned up, she pulled out her wand and started cleaning up her dress a bit, so it at least wasn't sticky anymore.

"Well, there's nothing about it in the Hogwarts: A History, but I think it started as a maintenance area for the ceiling. Someone spruced it up though, and I bet it was Headmaster Frond. He was the forth headmaster or something and was always snooty, and the History says that he ate his meals separate from the other teachers. I bet he came up here and ate." Sirius surmised, unbuttoning his jacket and tossing it over the back of the chair.

Rose had to smile a bit. "I swear, you lot know all there is to know about this castle."

"I doubt that." Sirius said, moving to the railing and watching the people twirl below them. "I doubt anyone ever will either."

"That's what makes it exciting though." Rose pointed out. The young man grinned and nodded and Rose thought he looked better without the jacket. Less like a prince and more like a pirate.

"Exactly."

The two stood in comfortable silence, watching the activities below them, before Rose frowned. "What on earth are those two dressed as?"

Sirius followed her pointing finger and chuckled. "I don't know, but if that dress was any pinker, I think it might glow."

"Looks like she'd only like it more if it did so. They look like a little girl's dolls." Rose said with a grin.

"There's a Robin Hood and Maid Marion over in the corner." Sirius said, pointing out the couple snogging behind a pillar. "Don't they ever need to breathe?"

"Apparently not. But I do see another weird pair. The girl that's wearing that sparkling blue dress, and the guy she's with has a matching cape. Who are they supposed to be?"

"Prince Crelon and Princess Whismae. The story goes that they came from two great cities who always fought, living across the sea from each other. They wove their clothes from the sea so that they could live between the two cities in peace, beneath the waves."

"Oh, I like that one." Rose said with a smile.

"As nice as Beauty and the Beast?"

"Nope. Not quite."

"How come?"

Rose giggled. "Because your prince and princess ran away from their problems rather than facing them. In my story, two people learn to love each other despite first appearances."

Sirius nodded slowly. "I can understand Belle seeing past the Beast's looks…what did he see in her?"

"Well, in my favorite version of the tale, she's lovely but very stubborn and strong willed. He learns that beneath all that, she's different too, and lonely because of it. Despite it, she's still kind and willing to look beyond the obvious. Even if it does take some time."

Sirius grinned. "You know, I think I like your story better too."

Rose was about to reply when she saw the snogging Robin and Marian looking up curiously and realized that they were trying to figure out what the dark shapes up on the wall were. Rose giggled madly and yanked Sirius back from the balcony.

"Maybe we shouldn't do that." Sirius admitted with a laugh as Rose got back to cleaning spots from her dress.

"Probably not, people will really be confused." She agreed. When she finally put her wand away and looked up, Sirius was holding out a hand.

"May I have this dance?" he asked dramatically, that melt-worthy smile on his lips. Rose had to grin back, she couldn't help it. She dipped a graceful curtsy and took his hand, like him, playing at the dramatics.

"Indeed you may." She simpered, her act fading to laughter as he spun her into the dance.

Rose was surprised to find that Sirius actually knew what he was doing. She'd expected nothing more than what Remus and James had perfected, spinning in circles. Instead, he started to waltz her around the little overlook.

"I'm impressed." She admitted. He chuckled as he spun her again, before pulling her back into place and moving on.

"Just because I managed to avoid my tutor when I was younger doesn't mean I could avoid my mother. She forced my brother and I to learn to dance properly, and supervised the lessons herself."

"Yikes." Rose said with a grimace. "That had to be fun."

"Not really. Because we learned with our cousins. Bellatrix would purposely step on my feet, Narcissa was two feet taller than me and bossy, and Andromeda was horribly clumsy."

Rose noted that his voice slipped from cold to fond with the last bit. "But you didn't mind Andromeda?"

"Not in the least, she was a lot of fun. And a lot like me. She doesn't care about all the stupid pure-blood nonsense like the rest of the Black family. In fact, she married a muggle not too long ago."

Rose smiled. "No wonder you liked her."

He chuckled. "She was still a classy lady though. Ted Tonks is a lucky guy. I hope I can find someone that fun to marry."

Rose made a face. "You're seriously thinking about marriage?"

He laughed. "Not any time soon. But it is worth thinking about."

Rose shrugged. "I've never really even considered it. My mother has." she admitted. "She's already planning it and telling me about all the ways she'll spoil my kids." She rolled her eyes. "I keep telling her the first step is getting a boyfriend, but I swear she likes to skip ahead."

Sirius grinned. "I don't doubt that someday you will make someone very happy Rose." He said, sounding entirely sincere. Rose blushed but smiled back, as he once again twirled her about the floor.

Alright…maybe this night hadn't been _entirely_ terrible.

_o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o_

_Yay I'm home! Sorry about the lack of update, but I was computerless. I was visiting a friend a few cities over for her birthday party. I was up all night, had too many jello shots and whiskey, and didn't get enough sleep afterwards, but I had a ton of fun :D And I arrived home with only the desire to work on this story until my brain explodes, lol._

_This chapter is much happier than the last one, please review and tell me if you enjoyed it!_

_Your Sleepy (but motivated) Authoress,_

_Whisperwings_


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

"Wake up Padfoot, you're going to be late."

"I don't want to." Sirius groaned, rolling over and pulling his blankets above his head.

"If you hadn't been out so late, then you wouldn't feel crappy now." Remus pointed out. Sirius wanted to glare at him, but not enough to come out of hiding.

"It's not my fault I lost track of time."

"Sirius, the dance ended at midnight, you didn't get back here until four in the morning. How badly could you lose track of time?"

"Very?" A pillow hit him and he growled, finally sitting up and brushing hair from his eyes. "Alright alright, I'm up!"

"Come on, breakfast is almost over."

"Fine…" Sirius climbed from his bed and showered quickly, dressing in what felt like slow motion. Yeah, he and Rose had hung out in the secret balcony until three thirty in the morning, so what? She was a lot of fun to spend time with, Remus already knew that. Apparently, all it had taken was a dance to get the awkward silences between them to stop entirely.

He made his way to Great Hall and slathered jam on a piece of toast, leaving right away in order to reach potions on time. At least he'd have time with Cassie, that would wake him up.

"Morning ladies." He said, polishing off his toast as he took his seat. Cassie smiled at him and Lily giggled at the yawn that almost split his face in two.

"Long night?" the redhead asked.

"To say the least." Sirius admitted with a smile. "A good long night though. Why did Valentine's Day have to be on a Sunday this year?"

"Just to torture you." Cassie said with a grin. "Sit up and pay attention." She whispered, kicking his skin.

Sirius pushed himself upright, though laying his head on the table sounded much more appealing than listening to Slughorn's lecture. Finally they were released to work on their potions, making a Euphoria Inducing Elixir.

All too soon, it became evident he'd done something wrong. Lily and Cassie's potions were both thick violet, the consistency of melted chocolate. His on the other hand, looked like brown sludge.

"Better step it up Mr. Black, you're going to have to fix that quickly if you don't want a mess." Slughorn said behind him. Sirius frowned and glared at the sludge which seemed to be swirling of its own free will as if it were going down a drain.

"I don't even know what I did wrong."

"You forgot the violet stamens." Cassie said with a grin.

"Violet stamens…oh." Sirius grumbled, seeing the instruction he'd missed in the book. "Can I fix it?"

"Try adding one extra." Lily suggested. "It should balance out the time difference."

Sirius did as he was told, adding the violet stamens. "Well…now it's purple sludge." He said, trying to be optimistic. Cassie giggled and pointed to the next instruction, which he'd also missed somehow. "'Crush sunflower seeds with a mortar and pestle, and add the oil'. Ok, that I can do."

As Sirius set about fixing his many mistakes, he noticed that Cassie was actually actively making an effort to talk with him. She kept giggling at his jokes and smiling at him and…honestly, it was downright confusing. Where was the girl who was annoyed with him all the time for flirting with her?

Even more confusing, where was the urge to reciprocate? He felt no desire to wink or sent her his trademark smiles, or tease her or anything. And her smile and laughter wasn't making his stomach bubble the way it usually did.

He must just be really tired, that was it.

Lily looked up from her own potion, which had turned from violet to orange as she added the marigold petals. Sirius was watching Cassie rather than working, though it wasn't unusual. What was different was the way he looked at her, as if he wasn't quite sure what he was seeing.

As the class period went by, the boy only made more and more mistakes, and Lily and Cassie kept helping him to fix them. And the whole time, Sirius just looked confused.

It was an easy potion though, Lily doubted that was what was causing his inner turmoil.

When Slughorn declared their time up, Lily bottled her sunshine-yellow potion in a glass vial and labeled it, watching as Sirius dripped a few chunks of his too think, cherry red mixture into his own vial.

Lily needed to talk to him she knew, but Cassie was dawdling…likely waiting for Sirius to come back. Lily sidestepped and "accidently" knocked over a bottle of pickled slugs, spilling them across the desk. It was enough to make Cassie sigh and leave for her next class, and the perfect reason for Lily to keep Sirius here.

"Sorry." She said quickly when the boy came back, quickly picking up the slugs and tossing them back in the bottle.

"No worries, happens to the best of us." He said with a grin as he knelt to help. Cassie had left, and the smile was back on the boy's face as if it had never left.

"Sirius, are you alright?"

"What? Yeah, of course I am."

Lily gave him a look and he shrugged.

"Alright I'm…just a tad confused about something."

"About Cassie?"

"How'd you know?"

Lily snorted. "Sirius, you've been staring at her as if she had three eyes all class, and you couldn't figure out what was wrong."

He chuckled. "Not quite, but close. Lily, have you ever fancied someone?"

Lily's mind flew to Severus and then, surprisingly, to James. She simply shrugged. "Not really. I've had a curiosity about if a good friendship might grow…but that's about it."

Sirius sighed. "Let's put it this way… when you fancy someone, every little thing they do seems somehow to be wonderful. Every time they look at you, the way they talk and move… They make it so easy to like them as more than a friend."

"And that's how you feel about Cassie?"

"That's how I _did_ feel, yeah. Today, something is different. I feel like she's just…another friend. It's weird."

Lily hid a smile. She'd noticed the night before when Sirius had gone after Rose. She'd been wondering about something like this.

"So…you think that perhaps you no longer feel the same about Cassie?"

"I…guess so, yeah. Maybe it's just today. It hasn't been much of one so far."

Lily giggled. "Sirius, do you honestly expect that those feelings just come and go depending on your mood?"

"I don't know, do I?" Sirius said flatly.

"Well…" Lily said slowly. He wasn't apparently feeling very open minded to the idea that his heart had changed directions without him knowing. "Has anything happened to make you not like her anymore?"

"Not really." Sirius said, shoving the bottle of pickled slugs back into his potions kit and snapping it shut. "I mean…I kind of realized last night that we do have some differences. Cassie doesn't seem to be the type to like just…sitting in silence with someone. I do, but that shouldn't change everything."

Lily could hear the confusion in his voice, even if he was trying to hide it as he set his kit on the class's designated shelf. "So what else happened last night?"

"I ended up hanging out with…" he stopped short, eyes focused on something she couldn't see. "Rose. I spent all last evening with Rose."

Lily smiled. "And what changed there?"

"We just…talked. And didn't talk." He said vaguely.

"Did you dance?"

"Yeah. And boy can she dance…" he said softly. Lily giggled.

"And those feelings you used to get when looking at Cassie… I don't suppose you get those when you think about Rose?"

His smile went a tad dreamy and she laughed.

"Sirius, I do believe you now fancy Rose Appleash." She informed him.

"I what?"

_o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o_

_Muahahahahahaha! I do love messing with your heads :D_

_Please review and tell me how much you hate me! Of course if you don't i'd much rather heasr that, but I can take whatever you care to throw at me =P_

_Your Grinning Authoress,_

_Whisperwings_


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Remus was whistling a happy tune as he made his way back to the dormitory after lunch. He knew that this must be what people meant when they said they were walking on air. Ever since he and Cassie had danced the final dance the evening before, he felt as if his feet hadn't yet touched the floor.

And so when he found himself nearing Cassie in the hallway, his smile grew. It spread even further when she beamed and fell into place beside him, casually linking her arm with his.

"Remus, I've been looking for you everywhere!"

"You have? How come?"

"I need your help."

Remus smiled. "What with? Is it Rose again?"

"Oh no! She's…actually, she's surprisingly happy considering everything that happened last night." Cassie said, eyes full of wonder and confusion. "I'd expected her to be devastated and embarrassed and stuff…but she's fine."

"Really? I wonder how that happened." Remus said softly. He had a hunch…Sirius hadn't shown up again once he'd left to follow the small girl.

"I'm not sure. But anyway, it's not Rose who needs you right now, it's me." Cassie said with a bright smile.

Remus chuckled. "And what can I help you with?"

"It's Sirius…I need your help to. Well…" she was blushing and Remus's mouth was growing dry. "Win him over."

"Wait…what?" the werewolf asked, all feeling gone from his body. His arm tingled where her hand rested on his, but everything else was numb. Had she not been leading him along, he would have stopped walking entirely.

"Well, I can't very well just turn around and tell him that I like him, can I? Not when I've been giving him hell about it for so long now." Her reasonable voice echoed in his ears.

"No…no I suppose you can't."

"Exactly. So I need your help. I need to make him think that he's winning me over slowly or something… I just need someone on the inside to tell me if it's working, and help me out a bit, stuff like that."

"Sure…I can do that, yeah."

"Excellent, thanks!" she said, leaving his side as they reached her classroom. Remus stood there in shock, watching the wall as other students filtered inside after her.

So apparently…those two dances the night before hadn't meant a thing. Not to Cassie. Suddenly, his feet felt all too solidly attached to the ground. The clouds he'd been floating on now thundered and rained upon his head. The wonderful day he'd been having had turned completely around.

He turned and made his way down the hall, barely making it to Charms before it started. He took his seat and listened to the instructions, watching as everyone started practicing the Avis charm, which summons birds. Needless to say, the classroom was soon full of birds, and a myriad of things were happening thanks to people doing something wrong.

James was making his three bluebirds spin around Sirius's head like something out of a cartoon. And Sirius in turn had his robins zoom at his face. Peter on the other hand was only succeeding in creating clouds of bright blue smoke, causing everyone around him to cough and complain about the smell of blueberries.

Remus was barely even trying himself, slouching in his seat and saying the incantation without emotion. Sometimes a sparrow would shoot from his wand to hit the opposite wall, but sometimes he did nothing more than make it rain over the other half of the classroom.

Obviously his mind wasn't on his work.

So Cassie liked Sirius now, did she? Well…that was alright. She was free to fancy whoever she liked after all. Maybe Remus had been imagining things. He'd wanted to be the focus of her attentions, so he'd only noticed things he wanted to notice. It made sense.

And he was ok with it, right? Right. It wasn't as if he'd even told her how he felt. And he had been questioning a few things lately.

Like his relationship with Rose. When she'd asked if he thought they had a chance, he hadn't known the answer. In all honesty, he thought that the two of them could be really good together.

Maybe this was for the best. Remus and Cassie had known each other for ages and nothing more had ever developed. Whereas he'd only just met Rose and they were already incredibly close.

And Rose was dear to him. She was quite pretty, with her rich brown hair and dark green eyes. And her smaller size only increased the desire to keep her safe. They already spent a lot of time together, and got along great.

In fact, the more he thought about it, the better he felt. Cassie and Sirius would be fine together, even if they did bicker each other's ears off. Meanwhile, he and Rose would sit in the background and laugh at them.

He grinned and nodded to himself, perfectly summoning three sparrows and having them go perch on the heads of each of his three friends.

Yes, this was going to work out quite well.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Rose sat in silence at the Hufflepuff table, eating lunch on her own. Cassie and Belinda were at the library studying for a quiz they had later in Transfiguration. Rose was alright with eating by herself though, she had plenty to think about.

In the couple weeks following the disaster of a dance, things had really gotten turned around. Neither Remus nor Sirius had asked her once for advice on things to do for Cassie in days, which was really quite bizarre. She'd expected it from Remus, their meetings at the Usual Spot were never about Cassie anymore. Sirius's lack of questions was almost unnerving though.

He'd been spending a lot of time with Lily recently too. Rose didn't really mind, at least not that she admitted to herself. Though other people weren't quite as happy about things. Cassie was growing increasingly upset about the closeness of the pair, for reasons Rose didn't understand. She didn't even like Sirius!

James was also upset, though it seemed he hadn't told Sirius so. If Rose knew anything about James, it was that beneath all the flirting and teasing, he really did care for Lily. The fact that he hadn't told Sirius to back off told Rose that James knew Sirius wasn't interested in the redhead as anything more than a friend.

And there was one other upset person, Severus Snape. Rose had never talked to him or anything, but she knew as well as everyone else did that he was a common target for the pranks of James and Sirius. He and Lily used to be friends, though they'd seemed to drift apart over the years. Rose hadn't seen Lily give him a second look in ages though. They'd been arguing a lot lately, maybe they finally just broke it off entirely. It was clear from the way Severus would glare at Sirius that he was even less happy with the popular boy than usual.

So was that it then? All the boy drama she'd been dealing with for months was gone? No one needed her help to win Cassie's heart? All anyone seemed to care about these days was the surprising friendship between Sirius and Lily.

And she was being almost entirely ignored because of it. Maybe she'd grown a tad selfish, but she liked being needed and talked to. She'd enjoyed being stopped in the halls for advice; it was more of a social life than she normally had.

Ah well, at least she still had Remus.

"Rose?"

The girl turned so fast that she knocked her bowl of tomato soup all over the table. She gasped as a large drop of the hot liquid landed on her knee, dripping down her shin. "Ow…" she grumbled, grabbing a napkin and wiping the hot soup from her tights.

"Bit jumpy today, are we?" It was Sirius, whipping out his wand and performing a sloppy charm to clean up her mess. Rose giggled in amusement and pulled her own wand out, doing a much better job.

"Just didn't expect to see anyone."

"How come?" he asked, casually taking a seat, leaning back against the table.

"Um…Cassie is in the library." She said. "So is Belinda."

"I see. How have you been lately? Haven't seen you in a while."

Rose shrugged. "Nothing special really. You know how it is. Schoolwork, avoiding bullies, watching you and Lily make people jealous."

"Wait, what?" He asked, raising an eyebrow and brushing hair from his eyes. Rose had to laugh.

"James is jealous that you're spending so much time with her, haven't you noticed?"

Sirius grinned. "He won't be too upset when he realized that I'm helping her get over her prejudices."

Rose grinned and shook her head, sipping at her pumpkin juice. "When he finds out that you're basically setting them up you mean?"

"That too."

"Sirius, you are hopeless." She said with a smile.

"And proud of it."

_o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o_

_Alrighty then! i know a whole bunch of you were so sure of the pairings (yet again) but I do believe i've upset the balence once more, lol. I really am loving this story, just for that reason! Don't worry, even more drama is coming up soon :D_

_Please review!_

_Your Evilly Chuckling Authoress,_

_Whisperwings_


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Cassie settled down at a table in her favorite alcove of the library. This was her spot, and almost everyone knew that this was where the Ravenclaw girl always came to study. The table was just large enough for four people, with a towering bookshelf on either side. The old tombs smelled heavenly to her, like old parchment and ink. To her left was the opening to the rest of the library, and to her right was a window which overlooked the lake and the mountains beyond. Even better, there were parts of the window made with colored glass, leaving cheerfully colored splotches across the pages she was reading.

She didn't know why the stained glass was there, the rest of the library windows were just plain glass. She didn't care though, the glass made this alcove even more special.

"I'm going to fail…" Cassie looked up with a smile at Belinda who was hunched over her textbook in desperation.

"No you're not."

"Yes I am! I know it. This quiz will be my downfall, I'll never pass another exam again."

Cassie rolled her eyes in amusement at the familiar panic attack. Belinda freaked out ever every single quiz and exam and essay. Cassie had never understood it, but Rose suspected it was because the moment she felt sure of herself, she'd relax too much. At least in the blond's mind. Cassie left the mind reading to Rose.

"Quick, distract me, I need to relax!"

"How?" Cassie asked, mind going blank at the other girl's demand.

"I don't know…how goes it with Sirius?"

Cassie smiled as she looked out the window, the open book before her ignored for now. "I think they're going pretty well. He and I talk a lot more now, there's almost no arguing anymore."

"Does Remus say that it's working?"

Cassie giggled. "He thinks so too. You know, I'm really glad I asked him for his help. I'd been considering James, seeing as he and Sirius are inseparable, but Remus is such a sweetheart."

"Didn't he fancy you at some point?"

Cassie felt her cheeks warm and had to wonder at the reaction. "I…I never asked him." She said quickly. "But he's a lot more observant about Sirius than I would have expected." She said, quickly changing the subject back.

She firmly pushed her strange reaction out of mind. There was no reason to be blushing about Remus, not when Sirius made butterflies swirl around her stomach in a whirlwind.

"A good balance." Belinda teased. "Considering you're oblivious."

Cassie stuck out her tongue even as she grinned. Belinda was right after all. Cassie was horrible at reading people, and tended to be entirely oblivious to what people were really thinking. She left that kind of stuff to Rose, who could practically read minds by looking at you. Or in this case, to Remus. He seemed to be able to do much the same thing.

"I don't try to be, it just works out that way."

"Obviously, because you haven't asked me once about this." Belinda said, lifting a necklace from where it rested on her sweater. It was a tiny silver heart, plain but pretty.

"Um…was I supposed to?" Cassie asked with a raised eyebrow. Belinda grinned.

"Darren gave it to me on Monday." She said, her cheeks flushing a lovely pink. Cassie's smile widened.

"He did? Are you two going out?"

Belinda bit her lip and nodded and Cassie squealed softly in excitement. "That's wonderful, I'm so happy for you!"

The blond giggled and looked down at the silver heart charm. "Now we just need to get you and Sirius together."

Cassie grinned. "That'll be nice, yes." She admitted.

As Belinda went back to her studying – still playing with the charm – Cassie looked out the window. That would be nice…she looked forward to the days when she could reach out and take Sirius's hand without wondering if he'd be alright with it. When he'd wander the halls with her, just talking about everything and nothing.

She already knew it would be wonderful. How could it not be, it was Sirius Black!

She smiled and watched as a bird flew past the window, changing colors as it went behind the blue, green and yellow glass.

She wondered what would happen once she and Sirius did get together… Her group of friends would really grow then. Rose and Remus would be able to bring their relationship out into the open. Their meetings were still held in secret at the Usual Spot. Cassie wasn't sure if they were officially dating or not, but she suspected they'd be getting together any day now. Rose was always sneaking off to talk with him, and they were obviously close.

Of course, considering how little Cassie noticed sometimes, it was possible that they were already together and that she just hadn't figured it out yet.

Maybe she should ask Rose about that later…

She went back to her book and started reading once more, though the colored light sprinkling the page was much more interesting to her distracted mind.

She was starting to think that maybe it would be alright for her to start making more obvious moves to Sirius. Like…walking with him after class to wherever he was going next, or maybe asking him to join her in Hogsmeade on their next visit. She could be more subtle and ask for his group to come with hers. That would give Rose and Remus an excuse to get out of the castle together too after all.

And maybe then things would really take off. And Sirius would realize that her feelings towards him were no longer all animosity. Maybe he'd realize that if he flirted, she'd actually reciprocate.

He hadn't been flirting a lot lately…almost not at all. It was rather confusing. Cassie's best guess was that he'd hoped that backing off would make her like him more? Perhaps?

Though over the year, he'd only seemed to grow more and more distant. Especially since the dance. Perhaps he was starting to realize that flirting and wild gestures of affection weren't the way to win her over, she just wanted a friend. A much more casual relationship.

She reached up and pulled her own necklace from under her shirt, looking at the small hibiscus charm. It faded from green and red to blue to yellow…actually, now that she looked at it, it was the same colors as the glass in the window. It was likely coincidence, but it still made her smile.

She still couldn't be sure who it was from, but she suspected it had been Sirius. He'd been sending hibiscus flowers to her for months. At first anonymously, but then with notes saying that he was thinking of her.

Though the gifts had stopped recently, she wasn't surprised. It was only March after all, but she was hoping that with spring, more flowers would be left on her pillow with a short note.

She looked at the clock on the wall and sighed. "Lindy, I'm starving. Let's go get some lunch before class."

Belinda sighed. "Alright, fine…" she grumbled, standing and packing her things. Cassie followed suit and the girls left the colorful alcove and then the library altogether.

"Belinda!" both girls turned to see Darren coming towards them, a smile on his face and a spring in his step. "A flower for my favorite girl." He said with a smile as he whipped out a daisy.

Cassie smiled. He was good, daisies were Belinda's favorite. The boy was rewarded with a beautiful smile and a hug before she even took the white flower from his hands.

"How'd you know?"

"Know? Know what?"

Belinda giggled. "Daisies are my favorite."

"Really?" the genuine surprise was matched by the grin on his face. "That's great, they're my favorite too!"

Cassie sidled away as Belinda pulled the boy into a kiss, trying to be invisible. It was adorable though, she couldn't help but smile in happiness for her friend.

Belinda soon skipped up beside her again and they finished making their way to the great hall.

"You should stop smiling like that." Cassie teased and Belinda giggled.

"I can't help it. You know how that is."

Cassie's mind flew to a pair of grey eyes half hidden behind black hair. "Yeah. Yeah I do."

_o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o_

_Believe it or not, this is more than just a filler chapter. Originally, it wasn't going to be here at all, and I was going to hop into some MAJOR drama. Then I decided that Cassie needed some time in the spotlight. She doesn't get a lot, and I know that a good number of my readers either don't like Cassie or don't care about her at all. I just wanted to remind everyone that she's important to this story, and she's a real person too. Maybe this chapter helped with that ^^_

_Please review!_

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings_


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Cassie entered the lunchroom with Belinda, grinning as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "That was time well spent, I know there's no way I can fail the quiz today." She said with a smile.

"You didn't learn anything new in the last hour." Belinda pointed out. "I on the other hand am never going to remember it all!"

"Oh you'll be fine." Cassie said with a chuckle. "You always are."

"Yeah I always am, but that's when I'm going to choke! When I think I'll be fine is when I'll mess up! If I fail this quiz, it's going to be because _you_ said I'd be fine!" Belinda exclaimed, dramatically waving her arms around.

Cassie laughed. "Lindy, relax, you _will_ be fine. Besides, didn't you get a good luck smooch from Darren a moment ago?"

Belinda's panicked demeanor instantly melted to be replaced with a dreamy look. "Yeah…" she said with a goofy smile. "Who'd have thought it would have ended up this way?"

"What way?"

"He invites me to the dance, I said yes…and he's perfect Cas, he's perfect! He's everything I've ever dreamed of in a man!"

So had her last three boyfriends, though Cassie didn't say that aloud. "Of course Lindy, of course. You realize you've disappointed half the boys in school by finally picking a boyfriend, right?"

Belinda grinned. "Maybe so, but they'll get over it. Besides they can still look. As can I." She said, voice as bright and cheerful as ever. Cassie rolled her eyes, but had to laugh. "You'll do the same if you ever pick a guy for yourself you know."

"Maybe so…" she muttered, thinking of Sirius. She looked over to see that he wasn't at the Gryffindor table, but sitting beside Rose at the Hufflepuff one.

Cassie felt her heart size for a moment as she sank into her seat beside Belinda. Sirius was talking and Rose was giggling. And there was something about the way they looked at each other…

No. No way, it was impossible! Sirius couldn't actually fancy Rose…

Could he?

"Sirius looks friendly today, doesn't he?" she asked softly. Belinda followed her gaze and frowned.

"Why is he with Rose?" she asked, suspicion in her voice. "Isn't he supposed to fancy you?"

Cassie rolled her eyes, though something similar was running through her own mind. "I'll be right back." She said to Belinda, forcing herself not to march right over to Sirius and Rose, and instead taking a seat beside Lily at the Gryffindor table. James, Remus and Peter had their heads together over what looked like floor plans or something, and Cassie ignored them.

"Hey Lily."

"Hello Cassie." She said with a smile. "Ready for that quiz you were telling me about?"

"More than." She admitted with a smile. She glanced over at Sirius, who was still talking with Rose. "Does Sirius seem…to be acting a bit odd lately?"

"Hmm? No, not really."

"I mean…he's talking to Rose."

"It's not the first time." Lily pointed out. Cassie raised an eyebrow.

"How so?"

"They talk all the time." The girl said matter-of-factly, slicing her turkey. "He's always going off to chat with her about something or other."

"He does?"

"Yup. Has been all year. He also went after her that night at the dance. I didn't see him again after that, did you?"

"No…no I don't think I did." Cassie whispered in surprise. "Do you…think he likes her?"

Lily shrugged, looking at the two with a slight grin. "I do believe he might. And judging by the way she's looking at him, I think Rose may just like him back."

Cassie frowned. "I see…" What did Rose think she was doing? Going after Sirius when Cassie already was? Cassie had always believed Rose to be her best friend, would a best friend ever chase after the guy the other fancies?

Not in Cassie's book, that was certain.

She wanted nothing more than to go to Rose right then, but the end of lunch had already arrived and she had a quiz to ace. She glared at her friend and Sirius, who were still chatting as they left the great hall and huffed in annoyance. It would have to wait.

Class crawled by, and every second that passed made Cassie's hurt grow. How could Rose do it? Surely she knew how Cassie felt. She hadn't hid anything from her after all. Cassie had been under the impression that Rose was supportive of her change of heart, but there she was moving in on the same guy!

Sirius had been going after Cassie for so long, why would he suddenly change his mind? It must have been Rose. She'd changed his mind about chasing Cassie. She'd never suspected Rose to be jealous of her before, but maybe she'd been wrong…

Even worse, what about Remus? The boy had told Cassie that he had his eye on her short friend, yet she was flirting with Sirius instead? What had happened? Cassie had been so sure that Rose liked Remus, had she been so wrong? The fact that Rose was going to hurt Remus made her more upset than she was expecting, but then, he was a good friend.

Class ended and she was packed and out the door before anyone else. She knew Rose would be coming in from the greenhouses. She had a free period which she spent with Professor Sprout.

As she'd hoped, she had just made it to the entrance hall when Rose came in from inside, stomping mud from her shoes before coming through the large doors.

"Rose!"

The girl looked up and smiled. "Hey Cassie, how'd your quiz go?"

"That doesn't matter. You fancy Sirius." Cassie said bluntly. Rose blinked in confusion, though her green eyes also showed surprise.

"I what?"

"Fancy Sirius. You _know_ how I feel about him."

"I don't under-"

"You understand perfectly." Cassie whispered. "I've been trying to get Sirius to notice me more since the dance, and now I know why he hasn't. Because you've been distracting him."

"Distracting him? I haven't been doing anything." Rose said, more confused than ever. Cassie fancied Sirius? When had that happened, she'd never been anything but annoyed with him before! "Cassie, I didn't have any idea-"

"Yes you did, how could you not? Rose, I thought you were my friend!"

"I…I am!"

Cassie shook her head. "No you're not. A true friend wouldn't have stabbed me in the back like you have."

Rose's jaw dropped and her eyes misted over as Cassie turned and walked away. Rose wanted to stop her, to insist that she had no idea what she was talking about. The only problem was that she did.

Yes, she still treasured every smile Sirius sent her way, and she still loved it when he came to talk to her, even if it was Cassie focused most of the time.

Though…lately, it hadn't been. Now that she thought about it, Sirius had been coming to her for no reason other than to say hello. He'd convinced her to stop wallowing in sadness about her parents, and helped to turn a disastrous dance into a night she'd always fondly remember. And today, he'd sat beside her just to talk about nothing in particular.

But that didn't mean he fancied her or anything! Rose's feelings had nothing to with it, she'd never told a soul about how she felt about anyone!

Even now, she was torn between Remus and Sirius. They were both so kind and accepting, and seemed to like her for who she was. But she had never told anyone anything about how she felt. What made Cassie think she was trying to steal Sirius away from her?

Rose leaned against the wall beside the door, her knees trembling so hard that she was having trouble staying upright.

"Rose?"

She looked up to see Sirius, and had to hide a groan. Of all the people to stop…

"Yes Sirius?"

"You alright? Don't yell at me again." He said, a smirk on his face.

"I'm…I'm not going to yell." She whispered.

"No, you're just going to go unheard. What's up?"

"I think…Cassie is upset with me." she said softly. She looked up to see Cassie on the other side of the hall with Belinda. Cassie glanced over and glared so angrily that Rose's eyes filled with tears again, and was soon joined by Belinda who seemed just as upset for some reason.

Sirius followed her gaze and winced. "She looks more than upset. What's got her panties in a twist?"

Rose shook her head. "Nothing. I think…I think you and I should stop this."

"Stop what?"

"This. Talking, being friends…none of it." She said sadly, turning and making her way down towards the Hufflepuff common room.

She was glad Sirius didn't follow her this time…even though she half wished he had.

She felt that she was suddenly very alone in the world, and the tears rolled down her face.

She needed to talk to Remus.

_o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o_

_For the few of you planning on reviewing, I don't want to get a bunch of hate mail for Cassie! I know she's sometimes oblivious and unobservant, but we can't all know what's going on all the time. Cassie has a temper, and she's only acting based on what she knows. Remember, none of the characters know all that you know, they only get a piece of the puzzle. If you guys don't know who's feeling and doing what, then the characters certainly won't. People make mistakes, and Cassie won't be the first or the last in this story. Please just keep that in mind._

_So as long as there's no Cassie bashing, I would love to get some opinions on this chapter! I don't write a lot of fights, so I'd like to know how I did, lol._

_Your Nervous Authoress,_

_Whisperwings_


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Rose wasn't able to find Remus until supper that night, and she spotted him picking at his food rather than eating it. She bit her lip and looked around, before deciding that this was stupid. She could talk to her friend if she wanted to, no matter what Cassie thought.

He shoved away from the table only a second later, and Rose scrambled to follow him. Her own food was left uneaten, but that was alright. She hadn't been hungry since Cassie had spoken to her earlier.

"Remus!"

He turned to look and shifted awkwardly when he realized it was her. She gave him a smile as she came up beside him, though it faltered when he refused to meet her eyes.

"Remus?"

"Yeah Rose?"

"You…are you okay?"

"I'm fine, why do people keep asking that?" he snapped. Her smile was now long gone.

"You just don't look very happy." She said in a soft voice.

"I'm perfectly happy. Why shouldn't I be?"

Rose looked up at him, trying to hide the hurt that she knew shone in her eyes. "You tell me."

"Maybe everyone expects me to be moping around because Cassie has her eyes on Sirius now? Or maybe because you have a crush on one of my best friends!"

Rose's lips parted in surprise. "You've been talking to Cassie." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah, I have. At least she's honest about her feelings. Here I was thinking that maybe things could work out between you and me. But no, I was wrong. Because it's all about Sirius. As usual."

Rose shook her head angrily. "And you just believed her? Cassie told you something and you just accept it as truth?"

"I don't have any reason to suspect otherwise, do I?"

Rose glared. "Well you didn't exactly make an effort to find out if she was wrong, did you?"

"And is she?"

"Yes! I have never once told anyone that I fancied anyone! Not Sirius, not you, not King Tut of the Pharaohs! Unlike you lot, I keep my crushes to myself!"

"So you don't fancy Sirius?"

"I never said that."

"And you don't fancy me?"

"I never said that either."

"So you _do_ fancy me?" he asked, but she glared, her patience gone.

"Remus, I'm frankly not in the mood to tell you anything about who I do or don't fancy. We were supposed to be friends, good friends! And yet Cassie tells you something and you believe her entirely, no questions asked. Even though it's _my_ interests being discussed, not her's."

"Why shouldn't I have believed her, you and Sirius have been spending lots of time together lately!"

"So have we!" Rose pointed out angrily. "Just because a boy and girl talk and become friends does not imply that they're in love!"

"Like I said, you haven't denied it." He said, eyes narrowed. She glared.

"And I haven't confirmed it. I'm not telling you anything more, that's for certain. Goodbye, Lupin." She spat, turning and hurrying down the hall to the Hufflepuff common room.

Remus glared after her before spinning and heading back to his own dormitory to change. A distant part of his brain registered that Rose's use of his last name hurt, but he ignored in favor of more pressing emotions.

Like betrayal.

Sirius could get almost any girl in school, and he'd practically gotten Cassie. Now, when Remus turned his interests elsewhere, Sirius had followed. First Cassie, now Rose. Did the boy have any idea just how often he was pushing others aside in favor of his own interests?

Remus doubted it. Sirius may not get along with his family, but he had still been raised rich and spoiled. And having grown up defying his parents at every turn, he was used to doing whatever he wanted with no regard for anyone else.

When the three other boys entered the common room, they found Remus with his head in a book, though he wasn't reading it so much as glaring at the words on the page.

"Man, did you see the girls at dinner?" Sirius asked. "Cassie and Belinda were glaring at Rose until she left. I wonder what they're fighting about."

"You." Remus said bluntly, putting down his book.

"Me? What do you mean?" Sirius asked, flopping in a chair and propping his feet on the table.

"They're fighting over you. Cassie fancies you all of a sudden, and she's angry because apparently Rose does too."

Sirius started, seemingly uncomprehending. "Wait…Rose fancies me?"

"Along with the rest of the girls in school." The werewolf stated bitterly. James frowned.

"Rose isn't just one of the girls in school." He pointed out. "She's our friend."

"She's not mine. Not anymore." Remus crossed his arms, glaring at the leather binding of the book in his lap. "She's just another girl with a crush on Sirius."

"But she actually fancies me?" Sirius said in wonder. Remus glared.

"I don't know for certain. Cassie says she does, but Rose refused to give me a straight answer."

"Why are you upset with her?" James asked in a firm voice. It promised that he intended to get to the bottom of this mess sooner rather than later.

"Because I just am! Cassie told me, to my face, that she liked Sirius! And then Rose practically told me the same thing!"

Sirius lifted a single eyebrow. "Why are you blaming me?"

"Because you don't care!" Remus cried, glaring down at the other boy, though he didn't recall standing. "Because the world revolves around you, so of course they're all going to chase after you. And you let them, because you don't give a damn about anyone but yourself."

"That's not true!" Sirius exclaimed, also standing. "And you know it, _Moony_." The emphasis on the nickname was intended to remind Remus of all the work he'd done to become an animagus for him. Remus didn't care.

"It is true. Because if you did care, maybe you'd take the time to realize that you were chasing after the same girl your best friend had fancied for years. If you did care, you wouldn't leave her hanging just as she was starting to like you and go after someone else."

Though most people were still at supper, those who'd come back were staring wide-eyed. No one had ever seen the four Gryffindors fight, not like this. Peter hesitantly interjected.

"I think we need to step back from this-"

"Yeah. Yeah I think we do." Sirius said in a dark voice.

Remus glared back and grabbed his book. "Agreed." He turned and marched up the stairs to flop on his bed. He opened his book, but was so angry that he tore the page. He repaired it, but tossed the book aside and lay back, staring at the ceiling.

"Moony, what is this all about?" James. Remus didn't really want to talk and rolled over. James sighed behind him. "You're jealous. You're jealous and you're blaming him for what other people do? That's not fair Remus."

"Yeah sure, take his side." Remus said a bit childishly. "You always do."

"Actually, I happen to agree with some of the things you said. But I don't think you should have shouted it in his face in front of everyone else."

"I don't care."

"I think you do Remus, that's the problem."

Remus didn't have an answer and so stayed silent. Normally James' wise moments were a source of amusement. Just not when they were directed at him. James left a moment later, shutting the door gently behind him.

The werewolf sighed and rolled over again, eyes trailing over the moving pictures of the group in front of the lounging snowman. The four Gryffindor boys along with Cassie and Rose, dashes of blue and yellow among the red.

Only a few weeks ago, everything had been going wonderfully. He wasn't sure what had happened. All he knew was that right now, everything was upside down.

And he wasn't sure they could fix it this time.

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_I actually really really like this chapter. i know it's full of depressing drama and all, but i'm really proud of how it came out :) I told you it'd get worse before it got better =P_

_Please review and tell me how evil I am!_

_Your Mad-Scientist Authoress,_

_Whisperwings_


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Sirius didn't say anything to Remus the next morning, getting dressed in silence and leaving for breakfast without waiting for the others. He could practically feel James's frustration, but right now he didn't really care.

Remus was being stupid about this. It wasn't Sirius's fault if girls liked him. He didn't ask for it, not really. Implied it maybe, but never had he actually desired to be the center of attention to the female population of Hogwarts. It had just worked out that way.

So now he knew why Cassie had been so attentive lately. He hadn't minded that she never really got angry with him anymore. But it was slightly awkward to think that she actually had an interest in expending their relationship. A few months before, he would have been ecstatic at such news. Now though, Rose was the only one on his mind.

He'd just have to back off with Cassie. Hopefully he could let her down gently. Maybe even nudge her back in Remus's direction, not that he deserved it. In the meantime, he had a short Hufflepuff to talk to. Remus's words from the night before burned in his mind. _"She's just another girl with a crush on Sirius"._

He finished his food and waited out in the Entrance Hall, not even acknowledging Remus's presence when he went past. The moment Rose emerged from the hallway though, he hopped up with a smile.

"Rose!"

She looked up in surprise and sighed. "Yes?"

"I wanted to talk to-"

"I get that, what?" she said shortly. She was looking around warily as if afraid people would see them talking. Sirius didn't care.

"Look, Rose…I really like you."

"That's great I…wait, what?" her double-take was comical, and he smiled down at her.

"Rose, that night at the dance…something changed. And I don't know what it was, but I liked it. Still do."

Her cheeks were bright red, but she'd finally stopped searching for their inevitable audience. "Really?"

"Yes really. I wanted to say something ages ago, but I wasn't sure if you felt the same." He shrugged. "I heard a little rumor and decided to check and see if it was true."

She made a face. "At least you bothered to ask me before assuming."

He grinned. "It was worth it though. Your cheeks can't be any redder." He teased.

"Oh shut up." She said softly, though a smile could be heard on her voice.

"But yeah, I'm pretty glad setting you up with Remus didn't work out."

"So you _were_ trying to set us up." She said with a glare.

"Well, yeah. Remus was interested in Cassie, so I kind of needed him out of the way…"

She raised an eyebrow. "And I was the means of doing so?"

"That was before!" he hurried to assure her. "Not anymore."

"Right." She looked unconvinced.

"Look Rose…you know my family. They'd be pissed if they even knew I was looking at you."

Her eyes glittered dangerously. "Oh really?"

"Well, you're a Hufflepuff, muggle born, all that stuff. They expect me to marry a pure blood beautiful girl and carry on the bloodline. Heck, half the school thinks that."

"So what, I'm an excuse to fight all that?"

"What? No, I'm just saying that they'd-"

"They'd prefer someone else. Sirius, you're always doing whatever you can to defy your family. I'm not going to be a tool in your plot against them."

"No, I didn't mean-"

"Sirius, you basically just said that I'm not good enough for you. I'm not pretty enough, not in the right house, and my parents are muggles." She shook her head angrily as more came spilling from her lips. "Thanks to you, everything I had going for me is gone. Cassie and Belinda hate me for believing that I had a crush on you. Remus thinks the same way and I honestly don't even want to talk to him anymore. I am on my own, and it is all because of you."

"I didn't-"

"You asked me at the beginning of this year to help you win over another girl, and then when you win her, you decide that you don't even want her. Why should I believe you'd treat me any different?"

"But-"

"And because I've fancied you, I've lost my best friends. In all honestty Sirius, I wish I could go back to the beginning of the year. Then I'd refuse to help you and I would still have them by my side. Everything is ruined, and it's all because of you." She seethed, tears filling her eyes.

"Rose…" Sirius whispered. This conversation wasn't going at all the way he'd hoped it would.

"Sirius, I wasn't kidding when I told you that we shouldn't be friends. And I'm not kidding now when I tell you that I don't _ever_ want to talk to you again."

She turned and walked into the Great Hall for breakfast, leaving Sirius standing in the Entrance hall on his own. The pleasant feelings which had been buzzing about his skull earlier were gone, replaced with a chill he couldn't shake.

What had he been thinking, bringing up all that stuff? About trying to set her up with Remus or about his family hating her.

The problem was, she was right. Remus had been right too.

He didn't care enough.

He'd turned into someone he'd never wanted to become, leaving behind a trail of wreckage with every new whim and change of heart. He'd hurt people, and hadn't even noticed.

No wonder Lily hadn't been able to see past James' bullying actions. Or hadn't wanted to. No matter what good was underneath, it wasn't worth dealing with such bad things on the surface.

At least James was trying to change though. He no longer bullied people for no reason; he'd really cleaned up his act. Well, maybe not in the case of losers like Snape, but that was different. He'd even started to go after other bullies, in an effort to rectify his past mistakes.

Sirius hadn't done a thing to change. He couldn't even count the number of girls he'd turned down over the last few years, nor did he know the names of most of them. And until now, he'd never thought twice about any of them. He'd never wondered if he'd hurt the feelings of those he'd denied right off the bat. Often with a slightly amused voice.

No wonder Rose couldn't stand him. He was a wreck.

He sighed and walked out onto the grounds. He didn't care that he had class soon, he wanted to run. And four legs were better than two for that sort of thing.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Rose sat on a bench in the wall of her dormitory, looking up at the window. The common room was underground for the most part, but the ground level lowered enough past the dorms that a thin window could be placed along the top stretch of wall. A tree outside was starting to sprout buds, and soon the light filtering through new leaves would bathe the room in a green glow.

She climbed to her feet and onto the large pile of pillows, just tall enough to peer out of the window itself.

She felt rotten inside, and a desperate need for Spring was enough to make tears fill her eyes. She just wanted the sun to shine and warm the earth, maybe it would thaw out her heart. These days it felt like a block of ice sitting heavily in her chest.

She couldn't believe it. After everything that had happened, Sirius had chosen right then to announce that he had feelings for her.

If he had just…waited a little while, maybe she wouldn't have freaked out so much. But with all the other drama, she'd panicked and could only think of all the bad reasons he might be telling her such things.

And now, her chance was gone. She sighed sadly and rested her forehead against the cool glass. He'd move on pretty soon, and choose some other girl. Someone more interesting than she was, she was sure.

She watched as a shaggy black dog loped across the grounds and longed to do the same. What she would give to be able to run so fast that she felt she could fly.

She just wanted to escape.

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_You'd think i'd be done torturing people by now, but nope :D Yay for megadrama! Is that a word? megadrama? Hmm...well it is now! W00t!_

_Please please review, i'd love to what you all think!_

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings_


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Days passed and grew warmer as March passed and April arrived. The snow was soon gone and any remnants of the group's winter activities melted away. Rotting carrots and tattered rags were all that was left of the snowmen, and they were soon cleaned up overnight by house elves.

Cassie and Belinda had bonded over being upset with Rose, and spent all their time together these days. Sirius and Remus hadn't spoken a word since their fight, leaving James and Peter to hop between them. Rose was on her own. All of her friends seemed to be angry with her for one reason or another. Not that she'd had many to begin with.

The rest of the school was more than happy to buzz and gossip about the drama. Had it just been Rose and Cassie, none of them would have noticed a thing. But since the four popular Gryffindors were involved, it was a favorite topic.

No one had the full story of what was going on. But Lily was determined to find out. She hated that the group who had been so close before Valentine's Day had splintered apart. They were her friends too after all.

Alright alright, maybe James _was_ included in that list. She wasn't sure she was ready to admit it to anyone else yet, but Sirius was starting to get to her when he pointed out that she was being rather shallow, unwilling to look beyond the past.

Only Sirius had ever been brave enough to say such a thing to her face. Many people agreed with her opinion of James, despite his good looks (which Lily refused to admit she admired). But those who didn't had never said she was being silly about it either.

Lily had to admit she's been rather hypocritical. She'd been trying to get people to look beyond the obvious for years when it came to Severus, yet she couldn't do the same for others?

Maybe it really was time for a change.

But that could come later. First, she needed to find out what was going on with Rose, Cassie, and the four Gryffindors.

Cassie was the easiest place to start. Lily managed to snag her after a particularly tedious potions class, where they'd been making a wound cleaning potion. All three of the potions from their table had been that perfect shade of purple, and Sirius quickly left with James.

As Lily watched Remus purposely take his time in leaving, she caught up with Cassie. "Hey."

"Hi Lils."

"Everything alright? You haven't been yourself lately." Lily said softly. Cassie rolled her eyes.

"Let me guess, you want to know why Rose and I aren't talking?"

"Well…yeah. Yeah I do." Lily said, deciding the blunt approach was best for this.

"You and the rest of the school."

"Yeah, except I'm your friend and I want a straight answer. What happened between you two?"

"She betrayed me, that's what." Cassie stated in an angry voice. Lily suspected that time had only hardened her heart against the possibility of being wrong.

"How so?"

"Well…" Cassie lowered her voice. "You know that I like Sirius, right?"

"I'd figured it out, yes." Lily admitted.

"Well, she does too. You were the one that told me that."

Lily blinked in surprise. "I never said any such thing."

"Sure you did, that morning at breakfast…"

"Well, I said that Sirius liked Rose. And that it looked like Rose might return the feelings. You shouldn't have taken my word for it though." She said with a raised eyebrow. "Is that seriously what all this is about?"

Cassie blinked at her. "Well…yeah."

"Did she admit that she liked him back?"

The other girl thought back, looking a tad uncomfortable. "Not…exactly."

"Then why are you upset with her?"

Cassie shook her head. "I just…I don't know, she looked so infatuated, I couldn't believe it. Not when she knew I liked Sirius."

Lily sighed. "Cassie…did you ever actually _tell_ Rose about your feelings?"

"Of course I…did. I think." Cassie whispered, eyebrows furrowed in thought. "I don't actually know if I _said_ so, maybe not in so many words. But I gave so many hints!"

Lily chuckled in honest amusement, though the situation overall wasn't exactly humorous. "Cass, you've been vehemently denying that there was even a _chance_ Sirius would ever get to you for years. Did you expect a few hints would make anyone think your feelings had changed?"

"Well…no. I guess not."

"There you go. So you basically yelled at Rose and broke off your friendship because of a lack of communication. Congratulations." Lily said. She knew her tone was harsh. As it should be. Cassie had been a moron, all because of a guy.

A lost look appeared on the other girl's face, mixed with guilt. "I didn't…I just assumed. I _hate_ my temper." She said with feeling. Lily had to smile. Cassie's temper had always been a bit of a problem for the girl, she had a bad habit of speaking without thinking.

"But you have such a hard time staying mad too." Lily pointed out. "You can't hold onto a grudge to save your life. Normally, you would have turned around in a few hours after you'd calmed down to straighten things out. Why not this time?"

Cassie looked at the ground. "Belinda."

Lily's confused expression slid into one of understanding. "Of course…she's _always_ had a thing for Sirius. She was just as jealous as you."

Cassie nodded. "She may have a boyfriend and all, but she always says that there's no rules against admiring from a distance."

"So she kept you angry?"

"For days." Cassie said, eyes filling with tears. "Every time I started to really think about things, she'd pop up and say something else and make me all upset again. By the time she stopped, I was so certain that I had been in the right…I didn't even question myself anymore."

Lily frowned. "Not very nice of her."

Cassie shook her head. "I don't think she planned it. I don't think she's smart enough to." She admitted. "Anything school related and she's brilliant. But anything outside of the curriculum? If there ever was a dumb blond, she'd be one."

They walked in silence for a few moments, before Cassie spoke in a small voice. "How do I fix things?"

"Talk. Explain. Apologize your butt off." Lily said with a smile. "I doubt Rose will refuse to listen."

"She might. I'd probably deserve it." She saw the look Lily gave her and sighed. "Alright, I entirely deserve it. I just…got all upset and… God, I am so thick."

"Yes, you are." Lily said cheerfully. "Now go find Rose and explain things. It's about time the two of you got over this."

She smiled confidently and left the girl to her thoughts. She wondered if maybe she should have been nicer about all that. But she was rather glad she'd been straightforward. It had worked wonders on her when Sirius had done it; she believed it would likely do the same for Cassie. It would certainly drive home the idea that what she'd done had been stupid.

And now, to find someone else… If Lily had anything to say about it, this ridiculous fighting would be over within the week.

She wandered outside, and spotted Remus soon after. The boy was sitting outside, leaning against the stone wall of the castle in the sunshine. He yawned widely as Lily spotted him, looking something like a great cat. Or maybe more of a dog…

"Hey Remus." She said, taking a seat beside him. He nodded to her, but was concentrating on the spell he'd been ordered to practice for Charms. As lightning curled around the end of his wand, Lily watched, waiting to speak.

"How come you're out here all by yourself?"

"Felt like it." Was the stiff reply. Lily sighed.

"So…according to just about everyone around the school, you and Sirius are having a row."

"They'd all be right."

"What about?"

"Nothing."

"Yeah right, Remus." Lily's voice was flat with sarcasm. "Come on, what's this all about?"

"He's just…ugh, infuriating!"

"In what way?"

"The way he treats girls." Remus finally spat. Lily raised an eyebrow.

"What's this now?" That had not been what she was expecting.

Remus looked like he'd reached the breaking point and confessions came spilling from his mouth. "Sirius has been chasing Cassie for years. Then, when her feelings change and she likes him back, he switches and starts going after Rose. He acts as if what he wants is the only important thing in the world, and that everyone should back off so he can do what he likes."

"Alright…" Lily whispered. "And what else?"

"What do you mean what else?"

Lily smiled. "You're not telling me everything."

The boy grimaced. "I've…fancied Cassie for a long time, but I never said anything. When Sirius decided he liked her, I was upset, but I didn't fight over it. Cassie can make her own decision. Then she came asking for my help in getting her and Sirius together." The hurt in Remus's eyes was enough to make Lily's dull from their bright green. "I figured it was a lost cause, and I realized that Rose is really nice too. Then, Sirius decides to chase her instead."

"But he didn't know that you liked either of them."

"No, which is why I don't blame him for that. Not really. He wasn't doing it to me on purpose; it just worked out that way."

"I see…and your feelings for Rose?"

"I've never been closer with anyone outside the guys." Remus admitted. "And I think we'd be great together."

"But…?"

He sighed. "But, I'm not sure it's the same as what I feel for Cassie."

"You still hang out with her?"

"All the time." He admitted. "She's angry with Rose and I'm upset with Sirius, so we just kind of…bonded.

Lily smiled softly. "In that case, I do believe you already know the answer to your problem."

"Yeah…yeah I do."

_o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o_

_Detective Lily to the rescue! About time someone tried to straighten this up. i mean who would ever be this cruel to their characters? ...oh right. Me :D_

_Please review and let me what you think, you guys inspire me to keep writing!_

_You're Coughing Authoress, _

_~Whisperwings_


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Lily smiled softly and waited for Remus to look up at her. "It sounds to me like you have a dilemma."

"I do?"

"Yup. You need to decide whether you want to talk to Sirius or Cassie first."

"I don't get it."

Lily chuckled. "You need to talk to them both. Sirius because you need to tell him you were really so upset about all this. He'll understand."

"But I also told him it was because of how selfish he is and whatnot." Remus admitted. "I doubt he'll readily forgive me for calling him a selfish git."

"It was only a good thing." Lily assured him. "He's been doing a lot of thinking lately. A lot of it through me, which has gotten a tad annoying as he keeps going around in circles." She admitted with a wry grin. "But he's your friend, Remus. I think he'd like to know the whole truth."

He grimaced. "That's going to go wonderfully…"

Lily giggled. "It'll be fine."

"Sure it will."

Lily rolled her eyes, but the smile stayed put. "As for Cassie…"

"What about her?"

"Talking to her. Don't you think you should tell her that you fancy her?"

"What? No way!" the boy exclaimed. "She told me to my face that she fancies Sirius, I can't just turn around and tell her that! Especially with Rose…"

Lily shrugged. "First off, you don't owe Rose anything, she doesn't even know about your feelings. Or…possible feelings." She amended. "Whatever the case, I think you're as bad as Sirius."

He frowned. "How so?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "So Cassie tells you she likes someone else, and rather than fight for what you want, or at least _try_ to, you just give up. Even worse, you look at Rose and basically accept that she's a suitable back up."

"What? I would never-"

"But you did." Lily insisted. "Before Cassie said what she said, had you ever seriously considered even liking Rose in that way?"

"Well…kind of."

"Kind of?"

"Alright alright, she asked me if I thought we'd be good together. And I think we would be."

"But did you even consider asking her out?"

"Well…no, it would have been weird."

"Ah ha!" Lily exclaimed in triumph. "It would have been awkward because you don't think of her like that!"

Remus rolled his eyes. "I think you're looking a tad too far into this." He stated, voice flat.

Lily shrugged. "I don't think I am, Remus."

The werewolf looked at his hands, the redhead's words circling in his mind. Was she right? She kind of was, in a way. After Cassie had asked for his help in winning Sirius over, Remus's first thought had been that Rose was still an option.

Maybe…he _was_ just as bad as Sirius in that way. He wasn't going after Rose because he cared about her that much so much that he wanted to, but because Cassie had no longer been an option.

He'd never felt like such a jerk in his whole life.

"Told you." Came Lily's smug voice, and he offered her a half-hearted glare.

"Alright Lily, I do appreciate that you talked to me, but I'm still not going to be talking to Cassie."

"Why not?"

"Because if she doesn't like me, it'll just make thing awkward to tell her that I fancy her. I'd rather have her friendship than nothing at all."

He stood and walked away without another word. He felt bad, but at the same time, he didn't. He needed to find Rose and apologize, and try and explain what had happened. He just wanted to be friends again. She probably needed one these days.

With that thought in mind, he went in search of her. It was nearing the end of lunch, so she'd be leaving for her class with Professor Sprout soon. He may just manage to catch her on the way.

He spotted her hauling her heavy bag towards the greenhouses and smiled slightly. He slipped up beside her and took her bag, just as he had the first day he'd talked to her. "Hey Rose."

She looked up at him, glared and crossed her arms, and looked away, not saying a word. Remus had to wince.

"I know I deserve this, so I don't expect you to say anything…but I'm going to talk anyway." She didn't look up, but she didn't demand to have her bag back either. Remus figured that was a good sign. "I'm really really sorry, I never meant to get so upset over this. In all honesty, I was jealous."

"Of what?" she asked, disbelief lacing her voice.

"Of Sirius. He can just sweep in and get any girl he wants, and twice in a row, he's gone after the girls I was interested in."

"Cassie?"

"And you."

"Me?" She finally looked up at him, dark green eyes surprised.

"Now…don't get your hopes up, because this is only going to make me look like more of a jerk than I already am." He said quickly. "But…the day after the dance, Cassie came up and asked me for help with Sirius. I said I would, much as I hated to. I was upset, because I still fancied her…and I kind of changed my mind all at once."

"What do you mean?"

"I decided that since I couldn't have Cassie, that I'd start…going after you instead." He held up a hand before she could say a word. "I was stupid and a jerk, and I'm sorry."

"I was a good second choice?" she asked, not a single emotion on her face to give Remus a hint as to how she felt about it.

"Basically…yeah. But I didn't really think of it that way at the time."

"That's okay, I've done something similar." She said softly. Remus glanced down at her, but decided to finish his own story first rather than ask her to explain. Things were going well, and he didn't want to ruin it.

"That's why I was so upset when Cassie told me about you fancying Sirius. I just felt like it was unfair."

"Yeah, I can get that. I still wish you would have asked me yourself though."

"I know, and I am sorry for jumping to conclusions. And for that whole thing about liking you because I couldn't get Cassie thing."

A faint smile appeared on her lips. "And I'm sorry that I was interested in you because I couldn't get Sirius."

"Wait, what?" Remus asked, slightly amused even as he was surprised. She flushed a deep red, slowing her steps.

"I've…always fancied Sirius." She admitted. "At first it was just because of who I _thought_ he was…and then it was because I found out who he _really_ was. Which was even better. But I knew there was no way that would ever happen, so I started wondering about you and me instead."

"So that's what you meant." Remus whispered in wonder. He had to chuckle. "Thorn, we managed to get ourselves into quite a fix. Neither of us can get who we really want."

"Looks like it." Rose shrugged and sighed. "How do we manage?"

"Because we're both hopeless idiots who chose some of the most popular people to fancy."

Rose had to giggle. "I suppose that would do it." She looked up at him and smiled. "Remus…are things between us okay again? Because I really don't like fighting with you."

The werewolf smiled and pulled her into a one-armed hug. "We're perfectly okay Rose. Promise."

"Good, because I have some serious ranting to do." She said with a grin. Remus chuckled.

"In that case, I'll meet you after supper at the Usual Spot."

"Sounds like a plan. See you later Remus!"

She took her bag and hurried into the greenhouses and Remus grinned. "See you later, Thorn."

_o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o_

_Did that go a little too well? I know it was a pretty fast make-up, but I felt that was right for Remus and Rose. I get the feeling neither of them enjoys being upset with anyone, let alone their close friend... So I hope that whole thing wasn't too rushed!_

_Please please review! Thanks to the few I got yestder, I wrote 4 new chapters last night and am working on Chapter 37! Think how many I could write if I get more :D_

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings_


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Sirius looked up when Remus entered the dormitory, and back down at his homework. He'd spread his books across his bed as he worked on the History of Magic essay due the next day. And he was in no mood for distractions from anyone, let alone the werewolf.

He ignored it when Remus stood beside the bed, not acknowledging his presence at all. He heard a frustrated sigh, and still didn't look up.

"You know, it's hard to apologize if you won't look at me."

Sirius finally did look up, eyebrows together in a frown. "Oh really? An apology?"

Remus rolled his eyes and nodded. "Yeah."

"I don't want to hear it-"

"Well you're going to have to." Remus said flatly. "Do you know the real reason why I blew up at you that night?"

"Because I'm a horrible person who deserved it?" was the sarcastic reply.

"No. Because I was jealous."

Sirius looked up again, frowning as Remus sat on his bed with a sigh. "Of what?"

Remus sighed, tracing a long scar on his hand. "Look Sirius…I normally couldn't care less that you're so popular with girls and all that stuff. I was jealous because of who you were actively going after."

"Who?"

"First Cassie and then Rose."

"Wait…you really did fancy both of them?" Sirius asked in surprise. Remus blushed.

"Kind of…it's complicated."

Sirius dropped his quill and sat up straighter, watching the werewolf with grey eyes. "Then tell me."

"Alright…" Remus sighed, looking up. "I've fancied Cassie for…ages. I never said anything, I know. But the day after the dance, she came up to me and asked for my help in winning you over. So I knew it was stupid to bother anymore. Rose…I feel pretty bad about it now, but I basically switched girls in the space of a single Charms class. I thought we'd be good together, and she was just as good as Cassie in her own way."

"But…?" Sirius prompted. Remus had to chuckle.

"Truth is, as much as I care for Rose, it's not the same. She's like a sister, and a really close friend…but nothing more."

"And you were pissed at me why?" Sirius asked, a single eyebrow raised.

Remus flushed. "Jealousy. I don't exactly chase a lot of girls, so when you went after the two I was interested in, I was just…jealous."

Sirius sighed. "I can't really blame you I guess. Earlier this year, I was actually…trying to set you up with Rose so I could have Cassie." He said in a rush, wincing a bit. Remus looked up in surprise, then chuckled.

"About time you admitted it."

Sirius looked at his friend and knew that everything was back to normal. And honestly, he was glad. He hated the stupid fight and avoiding each other all the time.

"Yeah…and I felt pretty bad myself about hopping all over the place like that. I didn't expect to start fancying Rose it just sort of…happened."

Remus grinned. "Well…she still fancies you." He admitted. Sirius's eyebrows shot up.

"Right, sure. When I told _her_ that, she told me that I had ruined her life and ordered me to never talk to her again. Among other things. Forgive me if I doubt you."

Remus shrugged. "Well according to what she said when I talked to her a half hour ago, that's not what she really feels."

"You two are talking again? Why were you even fighting?"

Remus groaned and flopped back on his bed. "Because I'm an idiot."

Sirius chuckled. "Can't argue with that."

"Which is why I lost the argument." Remus said, and Sirius could hear the smile on his voice.

"So Cassie still, huh?"

Remus sighed and raised his hands in the air in an exaggerated shrug before letting them fall on the covers again. "I'll get over it."

"Why should you have to?"

"Because she fancies-"

"Me."

"Well…yeah."

"But Remus? I don't fancy her."

The werewolf sat up enough to prop himself on his elbows. "That's…that's right." He realized, and Sirius had to laugh.

"Moony, I think you need to go talk to her."

"But…" Remus sighed and flopped back down. "No. Because that doesn't mean she thinks of me that way."

"You'll never know if you don't take a chance."

"But if I take that chance, and she doesn't like me, then things will be weird. We're friends, I'm not giving that up."

Sirius sighed, but knew he couldn't change Remus's mind. His tone was firm and his opinion was set. On the other hand, Cassie was a bit more on the blunt side. Sirius needed to talk to her anyway. Maybe he could soften the blow by hinting that there was someone else who fancied her more than Sirius ever had.

He shook his head in amusement and went back to his homework. He'd have to be very careful about how he did this…

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Cassie set her vial on Professor Slughorn's desk with a smile at the proud look he gave her. Murtlap Essence wasn't an easy potion to make, as it required exact timing. And hers was perfect.

As she grabbed her bag, she smiled to see Sirius come up beside her and they left the classroom together.

"I think I failed at one." The boy admitted with a chuckle.

Cassie had to smile. "You kind of forgot a few steps there, did you?"

"Not to mention a stopwatch. How am I supposed to know when two minutes and 40 and a half seconds have gone by on the school clocks?"

"You can't." Cassie said brightly. Sirius grinned, then sighed, taking her elbow in order to slow her down a bit.

"Look Cassie…there's something I need to talk to you about."

Cassie felt her heart sink and relax all at once. Somehow, she knew what was coming. "You don't fancy me." It wasn't the painful blow she'd been bracing herself for.

He blinked in surprise. "Actually…I was going to say something else first. But how'd you know?"

Cassie had to grin. "Sirius, for the past three years, you've been trying everything to try and gain my affections. When you suddenly stop, even I can figure out what's happened."

The boy made a face. "Well…that went better than I was expecting."

Cassie giggled. "In all honesty…I think we're too different anyway." She admitted.

"Really?"

"Yeah…the hibiscus flowers, the sitting in silence…you're a bit more of a romantic than I am I'm afraid."

He raised an eyebrow. "Never heard that one before."

She grinned. "I'm just too casual. I want a best friend I can talk to and be goofy with. I don't want to dance and give fancy gifts, I just want to relax."

Sirius smiled. "You'd like Remus."

She looked up in confusion, wondering why she still felt her cheeks warm whenever anyone mentioned him. "Remus?"

"Oh yeah. First of all, he's practically in love with you. You realize he's fancied you for years now?"

Cassie hid her cheeks with the palms of her hands, knowing they were turning red. "Really?"

"Yup. And he's a lot like you that way. He's more casual about this stuff. Me? I want a girl I can dance the night away with and not have to say a word." He said with a grin. The teasing note in his voice couldn't hide the honesty in his eyes.

"No wonder you like Rose." Cassie said with a grin.

"Yeah, she just hates me."

Cassie shook her head. "I wouldn't be so sure about that Sirius."

"How am I supposed to convince her of that?"

"Try."

_o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o_

_Hurray! I do love ending all this stupid over-dramatic madness :D As much as i love torturing my characters, i'd much rather have them happy ^^ Alright, maybe not the WHOLE time, but by the end of the story, lol._

_And HAPPY HALLOWEEN everyone! What did you dress up as this year? Are you going to a party? Go trick or treating? Sit around by yourself at home? Tell me :) Personally, I'm going to be a steampunk sky pirate, and me and a few friends are going to sit around and watch all the Halloween episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer :D_

_Please review and inspire me to keep going, I'm almost finished writig this whole thing! Not to mention you have to tell me about your Halloween Plans!_

_Your Grog-Swilling Authoress,_

_Whisperwings_


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Rose stopped short in the hallway and stared. It was late after her talk with Remus, and all she wanted to do was go to bed, but Cassie stood beside the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room.

The desire to flee was strongest, but Rose forced herself to stay still as Cassie pushed away from the wall and moved towards her.

"Hi." The Ravenclaw said softly.

"Hi." Rose replied. "Did…you need something?"

Cassie sighed. "Do you think we could talk?"

"Go ahead." Rose said. She locked all of her emotions away, not wanting to reveal a thing. At one time, she wouldn't have cared, but now? She wasn't so sure she wanted Cassie knowing how she felt about anything.

"Um…alright. Where to start…"

Rose watched her friend struggle and had to fight the grateful wave that flooded her. Cassie loved to talk, and had a bad habit of just spilling everything that came to mind. But to watch as she took her time and searched for the right words, Rose couldn't help but feel grateful she was making such an effort.

"I'm sorry. I was rude and cruel and unfair and I won't blame you if you decide to never talk to me ever again. I just want you to know that I don't care who you decide to fancy, because I'll support you no matter what. And I should have done that in the first place, and I didn't and I'm sorry. I'm not a very good friend, and that proved it."

Rose was torn. She wanted nothing more than to tell Cassie that it was alright and that things could go back to normal. But she knew that she had to be honest too. Something that wasn't always easy for her.

"You really hurt me Cassie." She whispered. "I don't care if you liked Sirius of not, I don't care how jealous you might have been. That gives you no right to yell at me and leave and not even give me a chance to explain."

Cassie looked off to her left rather than look Rose in the eye. "I know."

"And I know that you have a temper, and I know that you sometimes speak without thinking. But that doesn't make it alright to blow up at me for no real reason."

"I know."

"Cassie…I'm your friend. I always have been. What made you think that I would ever want to hurt you like that?"

"I just…panicked." Cassie said, shaking her head at herself. "I didn't realize that you didn't know about my feelings, or that you may not feel that way, I just…I got jealous."

Rose had to grin. "Why would you be jealous of me? You've been the object of Sirius's affections all year! Not to mention Remus."

"Remus? He told you that?"

Now, Rose laughed. "Cassie, right after we got back from summer vacation, Sirius asked for my help to get you to like him. And shortly after that, Remus asked the same thing. I've spent all year helping both of them."

Cassie stared. "Really? I…I had no idea…"

"I know you didn't. I made it very clear that you weren't to know." Rose said firmly. "At the beginning of the year, can you imagine how angry you would have been if you'd known I was helping Sirius to win you over?"

"Good point." Cassie acknowledged with a grin. "Remus too?"

"Yup. So I was the one they came to for suggestions and advice all year."

"Wow…Rose, I'm so sorry, if I'd have known…"

"You would have been upset with me anyway." Rose pointed out. "Just for a different reason."

Cassie blushed and sighed. "That's…possible. I'm really really sorry Rose."

The Hufflepuff smiled softly and shook her head. "I can't blame you. I've wanted to for weeks, but I can't seem to make myself do it. Especially when I suspect that a certain blond friend of ours made things worse."

Cassie gave her a hopeful smile. "Then…we're alright then?"

"Yeah." Rose nodded.

"Thank goodness. I've never had to spend all my time with Belinda before, and she just isn't…."

Rose giggled. "Less talk about plants and more about boys?"

"To say the least." Cassie said with feeling. "And it's weird to not have a walking armrest!" she teased, propping her arm on Rose's head. Rose grimaced and shoved the arm away, but her eyes shine were shining.

"I've got some potions I need to brew for Professor Sprout. Think I could get your help?"

Cassie smiled happily. "Sure thing."

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Lily arrived at breakfast the next day, took one look around, and beamed. Sirius and Remus were laughing with James and Peter, tossing food bits at each other and grinning as peter tried to keep it from his bundle of parchment. Rose sat with Cassie at the Ravenclaw table, her yellow tie popping amid all the blue.

She also noticed that Belinda was sitting with a few Slytherin girls at their table, along with her boyfriend Darren. Lily wouldn't be surprised if Cassie and Rose started to just let their previous friendship with the girl slide entirely.

The redhead moved to join the girls, smiling smugly as she took her seat.

"Well you're in a good mood." Rose mentioned with a smile.

Lily grinned. "I am just…amazing."

"Humble too." Cassie teased. Lily only looked even more smug.

"You realize that yesterday, you guys were fighting? And Remus and Sirius too?"

"Yeah…?" Cassie asked, drowning her eggs in ketchup.

"Well it's thanks me that it's all better now."

Rose giggled. "How so?"

Cassie blushed. "She kind of…gave me a scolding yesterday and pointed out how stupid I'd been." She admitted. Rose giggled in amusement and took a sip of her juice.

"I also had a chat with Remus." Lily added, grimacing at the sauce covered eggs on Cassie's plate before determinedly looking away.

"So _that's_ why he and Cassie both apologized yesterday." Rose said with a grin. "In that case, thanks a bunch, Lils."

"Anytime." Lily looked over her shoulder, watching as the four boys leaned over a parchment, heads together. "It looks like everything has been solved."

"Not quite everything." Rose amended. "There's still the slight issue of two people single who should not be."

Lily raised an eyebrow, about to ask if Rose was speaking of herself and Sirius. She only switched her confused look with a grin when Rose eyed Cassie.

"Cass, you do know that Remus is practically head over heels in love with you, right?" the shorter girl said bluntly.

The girls both giggled when Cassie's cheeks turned a lovely shade of pink. "People keep telling me that." She whispered.

"And you don't believe them?"

Cassie shrugged. "I just…we're friends, I know…but I don't know if he actually wants anything more than that. He hasn't said a word, not even a hint!"

Rose smiled softly as Lily rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Cassie, he told me almost the exact same thing last night. He's scared that if he tells you, that things will be ruined."

"He scared to risk your friendship." Lily added.

Cassie's blue eyes flicked between the two girls, then glanced across the room at Remus, making her blush deepen. "He really said that?"

"Every single time I tried to tell him that he was being silly." Rose said with feeling.

Cassie smiled down at her eggs. "In that case, maybe I need to be the one telling him that."

"Please and thank you." The Hufflepuff said with a grin. "I even know the perfect place."

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_Alright, i need to be quick, I need to take my brother by the mall to get a birthday presant for his girlfriend. But I just wanted to thank you guys for all the reviews! now I know that I need to ask some form of real question to make some of you pop out of the woodwork =P Also, if you're interested, i have a few Harry Potter One-Shots you may be interested in, including a new Halloween themed one :)_

_Please please review, i'm on a roll with this story and don't want to stop!_

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings_


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Remus sat on the stone floor of the Usual Spot. It was a bit cooler now that the sun had gone down, but he was glad it was warm enough to visit the real place. A fake roof in the Room of Requirement simply didn't hold the same feeling the real North Tower did.

He was so glad spring had come. When everything had been a mess with his friends, he'd been grateful for the excuse of warm weather to be outside. Now that things were all good again, he could really enjoy the season though. The cloud hanging over him was gone, and the whole world just felt so much brighter.

Now all he needed was for Rose to come. She was late. Again. It didn't surprise him really. He was used to waiting at least ten minutes for her to show up by now. Maybe next Christmas he should get her a watch rather than a stuffed toy.

The sound of footsteps made him grin, only to make it fade again as he stiffened. His ears were keener than most, and he could tell that whoever coming up the stairs within the tower wasn't Rose. He listened as they came to the window, and climbed out. What on earth?

He looked over to the wall just in time to see a familiar head of light brown hair appear, followed by blue eyes and a lovely smile.

Cassie…he couldn't help that his heart had missed a beat when she looked at him.

"Hey Remus."

"Um…hi. I didn't know you knew about this place."

"Rose showed it to me years ago." Cassie admitted, crawling up and sinking to the floor of the rooftop. "I don't come very often, heights aren't really my thing." She added, eyeing the low wall.

Remus grinned. Rose's visit was forgotten. Because right now, Cassie was here and like always, she seemed to absorb his attention. Not just her looks…but everything else too. The way she kept impatiently brushing the same strand of hair behind her ear, or the way she twisted the buttons on her blouse. The lowest button was a bit loose, she must do it a lot. Even the way she folded her legs under her and the fact that one side of her smile was higher than the other made her special in his eyes.

"Well, welcome to the Usual Spot." He said casually, not hinting at the many observations running through his mind.

She giggled. "I knew it! I knew this was the place you guys would talk about. You came up here in winter?"

Remus chuckled and leaned back on his hands. "Nah, too icy. We used the Room of Requirement."

"What's that?"

Remus blinked. "You don't…Rose never told you?"

"Well I know _about_ it, just not what it actually is. I've heard you guys mention it before. What is it exactly?"

"It's…well, it's a room that can basically become whatever you need it to be." Remus said with a shrug. "I can show you if you like."

"Not now." Cassie said quickly. "The view is nice from here…and honestly the thought of climbing down scares me." She admitted with a light giggle. Remus had to grin.

"Who'd have thought, the great Cassie is scared of heights."

Cassie snorted. "I'm not a great anything." She said flatly. "And lots of things scare me."

Remus raised an amused eyebrow. "Like what?"

"Like…don't laugh, but horses."

"Really?" Remus asked with a grin. "Horses?"

"They have these big teeth! And they're always so…frisky." Cassie defended, but she was hiding a grin. "I know it's dumb."

Remus chuckled again. "You said it, not me."

"Hey!" she complained through her giggles, smacking him on the shoulder. He groaned in mock pain, letting himself fall over.

"Ouch. No. Please. Don't hurt me." He said in a toneless sarcastic voice, still grinning. Cassie snorted and rolled her eyes, but her mind was on something else.

"There's something else that scares me too."

"What's that?" the young man asked, pushing himself upright once more.

"Hurting my friends again." She said softly. She looked out into the distance, blue eyes sweeping over the hills. "Usually people know not to take me seriously when I first blow up. But…I let Belinda influence me. I let her keep me angry." She whispered. "I wanted to stay mad, Remus. And I hurt my best friend in the world. Even after all that, she forgave me. I don't deserve her."

"Why was Belinda so upset?"

Cassie sighed. "She's always been…rather shallow. Basically she was jealous that Rose had caught Sirius's eye and not her." She admitted. "And we were never really that close, she would just kind of join Rose and me randomly until we just accepted her into our little group. But she's always had lots of little groups to hang out with. She's been spending a lot of time with the Slytherin twins lately, I figure we'll just let her do so."

"You're ok with it?"

"Honestly? Yes. If she'd really been a good friend, she would have told me that I was being stupid about Rose, not that I was right to be angry. She let her own jealousy out through me. Which isn't fair on anyone. Rose is too nice to see it, but I think we'll both be better off without Belinda altogether."

Remus smiled softly. "Rose is much more than meets the eye." Cassie nodded.

"Do you like her?"

"Sure." Remus said with a shrug. He saw the look on her face and flushed. "Not that way." He quickly assured her. "Rose is great, she's really great. But honestly she's like a sister, and liking her like that would be…weird."

Cassie smiled. "Good."

"Good?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, good. Because everyone has been telling me for days that you fancy me, and I was hoping they were right."

Remus was bright red by now, he was sure. "I…didn't want to say anything."

"How come?" she asked, twisting to face him. "Remus…why didn't you say anything?" she kept going before his lips even parted. "I know you were scared of risking our friendship and blah blah blah. But you never even _hinted_ at it."

"I did too." Remus said, sitting up a bit straighter. "At Christmas."

She blinked at him in confusion, blue eyes locked with his brown, and then grinned. "_You_ sent the necklace!" she realized, pulling the hibiscus charm from under her blouse collar.

Remus shrugged. "Yeah. Yeah I did."

"But it was anonymous." She pointed out, a secretive smile on her face. "It doesn't count as a hint."

"Well, I know." Remus said in a rush. "I was kind of…hoping you would figure it out."

Cassie giggled. "Remus, how did you ever expect me to figure it out?"

"I…have no idea." Remus admitted with embarrassed chuckle. "Did you like it though?"

She smiled at him in a wonderful way that made his stomach fill with buzzing bees. "I love it." She said softly. "I never take it off. The colors?"

"A charm I did." Remus said with a shrug, hoping it wouldn't sound like he was boasting. "It's the colors from your window."

"My window?"

"The one in the library. Where you always sit."

Her smile grew. "I knew it! Remus, you are brilliant."

He grinned and looked down, only to look back up see that she'd scooted a bit closer. He blinked and tried to pretend nothing happened. If he acknowledged it, he didn't think he'd be able to think straight.

"Glad you think so." He said instead. "It wasn't hard to do."

She shook her head. "It's not a matter of difficulty." She said softly. Somehow, she'd ended up directly beside him. He still didn't move, unsure what to do. "It's the fact that you wanted to do it. You didn't just find something sparkly and send it my way. You…thought it out."

Was it his imagination or were her cheeks pink? He knew his were, but on her it only made her look prettier in the moonlight.

"I tried." He said in a slightly strained voice. Her eyes looked even bluer up close…

She smiled softly and he had to smile back. How could he not?

"You know…you never exactly gave me a hint either." He pointed out.

She leaned over, and Remus's eyes closed as hers did, a moment before her lips pressed to his. He'd never imagined how soft lips could be, but Cassie's were like velvet.

"Is that enough of a hint for you?" she asked in a whisper when she pulled back.

Remus only looked into her shining eyes with a grin for moment before his hand reached up to brush her cheek and pull her in for a second kiss.

Words were over-rated.

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_Did you guys know that i'm a fluff addict sometimes? Well, now you do :D As much as I love being mean to my characters, I love giving them really great first kiss scenes even more XD_

_At least I think it's pretty great. Let me know what YOU think!_

_Your Fluffy Authoress,_

_Whisperwings_


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Cassie floated down the hall in a dream on the way to breakfast, certain that the night before had been a product of her imagination. She swept into the hall and caught the eye of Rose – in her usual seat at the Ravenclaw table – who grinned as Cassie sat down.

"I'm guessing things went well?"

"Understatement." Cassie whispered, piling food onto her plate only to push it around as she stared off into space.

"Uh oh. I got a one word answer." Rose said as Lily came over and took her seat. She'd somehow replaced Belinda in the space of a few days, but none of them were complaining. Belinda wasn't either, she had her new Slytherin girls to spend time with. "She's gone."

"Gone?" Cassie asked.

Rose giggled. "Oh yeah, she's gone."

"Gone where?" Lily asked in confusion. Rose grinned.

"Cassie went to visit Remus last night."

Lily's eyebrow raised and she smirked. "And?" she demanded of her friend.

"Yeah…" Cassie said simply. Lily beamed squealed and Rose laughed.

"I think he broke her." The Hufflepuff said with a smile.

"Broke me? What?" Cassie asked, spell broken. "Are you kidding? I've never felt better! The sun may be a little brighter, and the clouds may be long gone, and I don't think I could possibly happier. But broken? Nuh-uh."

Rose burst into giggles and Cassie had to grin. "At least she's talking again. I was getting a tad worried for a moment there." Rose said through her laughter.

"Oh shut it, Shorty." Cassie said, finally remembering her appetite. She piled hash-browns onto her plate with a happy sigh.

Rose shook her head. "You are hopeless." She said firmly, watching Cassie – who seemed to be moving in slow motion – with deep green eyes sparkling in amusement.

Cassie grinned. "You know you could always join me in the hopeless circle." She teased. Rose made a face.

"And look as silly as you do right now? I'll pass, thanks."

Cassie shrugged, looking at her short friend. "Rose, I want you to be happy too."

Rose's smile grew a bit sad. "I kind of lost my opportunity." She admitted. Cassie frowned as she went back to her food, looking over her shoulder where Sirius sat.

He glanced up, and Cassie noticed that his eyes went to Rose first, only grinning at Cassie when he noticed her looking afterwards. Cassie grinned back and turned back around. So Rose thought she'd missed her chance…but Sirius clearly thought otherwise.

Maybe it was time to get those two together. She just needed to convince Rose that it wasn't a lost cause. She needed to get Sirius to say something to her, otherwise she knew the Hufflepuff would never act.

"Good morning Cassie." The girl looked up to see Remus taking the seat beside her, kissing her on the cheek before filling his own plate.

Rose groaned. "Oh no, we just got her coherent again!" she complained, kicking Remus under the table. Remus only grinned.

"It could be worse."

Rose followed his gaze to her right, grimacing at the sight of Belinda and Darren – who'd joined his girlfriend at the Slytherin table – snogging right in front of everyone.

"I'll give you that." She said, determinedly turning away from the scene the couple were making. Cassie giggled in amusement.

"Ready for potions?" Remus asked her, and she nodded, finishing off her juice with a smile.

"Always am." She said with a smile. "Lily?"

"I'll join you in a moment." The redhead promised.

"Excellent. We're off then, see you later ladies." Remus said, making Rose snort.

"Later, lovebirds." She teased back.

Cassie took Remus's hand and the two walked out of the Great hall together. She could practically hear everyone start tittering behind them at the sight. It seemed the gossip train was chugging along again. "Are we really worth talking about?"

"You are." Remus said with a careless shrug. She made a face at him and he chuckled.

"You know…Rose still fancies Sirius." She said as they strolled down the hall. Remus nodded.

"He's still head over heels for her. You realize he hasn't pushed her at all? Not even a hint? Nothing?"

"Exactly the opposite of me." Cassie noted aloud. "With me he'd always try and get my attention for some reason or other."

"Exactly. The fact that he isn't doing such things tells me that he really cares for her."

Cassie sighed. "As adorable as it is, it's also making Rose think that he doesn't actually like her at all."

"You should talk to him about it."

"Me?" Cassie asked in surprise.

"Yeah. You and Lily can corner him during potions today."

"I don't know…it might be weird coming from us."

Remus chuckled. "Cassie, guys don't tend to talk about this kind of stuff. Not a whole lot. It would be _really_ weird coming from me."

She grinned. "Alright then. Cornering in potions it is."

Ten minutes later, that was exactly what she was doing. "Do I what?" Sirius asked.

"Still like Rose." Cassie repeated patiently. "You haven't been acting like you do."

Sirius shrugged, trying – and failing – to concentrate on his potion. "I don't want to freak her out or anything. And she told me flat out to never speak to her again."

Cassie rolled her eyes. "Sirius, you are _such_ a bonehead."

"I am not!"

Lily had to grin, adding cockroach wings to her bubbling soft pink potion. "Yes you are. You realize that you kind of trapped her when you told her all that stuff, don't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"She and Cassie had just started fighting, and she'd been fighting with Remus too. She was in a panic and upset. And then you jump her with a confession of your feelings."

He made a face. "It wasn't that bad."

"Yes it was." Cassie said patiently. "All that stuff she said? She said it because she was hurting. She didn't mean it."

"Look guys, I'm not going to push her into anything she doesn't want." Sirius said firmly, stirring his potion the correct number of times before continuing. "If she doesn't want my attention, then I'm not going to force her to deal with it."

Cassie and Lily looked at each other in desperation. Cassie decided it was best to just spill the beans entirely. "Sirius, Rose is under the impression that your offer was a one time thing. And since you haven't done anything to show her that you _do_ still fancy her, she's convinced herself that you've already moved on."

Lily nodded. "She thinks she was a passing fancy. And by _not_ doing anything, you're only confirming that belief with every day that goes by."

Sirius froze, which was a bad idea. The potion was supposed to be constantly stirred for the next five minutes to keep it from overheating. The result was a soft pink explosion. The three waved cotton candy thick clouds out of their faces, and Slughorn hurried over to clean up the potion before it could do anything worse.

"You'll have to start over Mr. Black, better be quick or you won't finish by the end of class. And don't forget to stir everyone!"

Sirius hurried to go back to work, clearly lost in thought. Cassie looked at Lily who shrugged. It seemed they'd gotten through…but they didn't really want to push the guy anymore than he wanted to push Rose.

Cassie just hoped it had been enough.

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_Short, sweet, and rather uneventful. Still, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! As a side note, I have over 100 reviews! Which I didn't even notice until one of your lovely readers pointed out to me, lol. I might just pass 122 before this story ends, which is the most amount of reviews i've ever gotten a single story, and that was for the first part of my Lord of the Rings trilogy, lol._

_Please review and let me know what you think of things!_

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings_


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Rose hurried up the tower steps, practically throwing herself out of the topmost window when she reached it. She almost slipped and forced herself to slow down, and soon sank huffing and puffing to the rooftop beside Remus.

"Sorry I'm…late. I was doing…Ancient Runes homework…and forgot."

Remus chuckled. "Relax Rose. You've been later than this." He pointed out looking at his watch. "You're only…40 minutes late this time."

She blushed a cherry red and he laughed again. "Sorry…"

"Oh stop, you're fine. I've learned to come prepared." He admitted, holding up the book he'd been reading. "This is actually a great place to escape from everything and be alone for awhile."

Rose grinned. "Cassie driving you insane already?"

It was Remus's turn to blush. "Actually the time I spend with her never feels long enough. She had homework this evening though, and the guys were driving me crazy."

Rose giggled. "Remus and Cassie, sittin' in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love then-"

"Oh shut up." Remus begged her. "I thought I'd managed to avoid that stupid thing."

Rose beamed. "Well I simply _had_ to ruin that, didn't I?"

"Apparently."

Rose giggled. "You two are so cute though! I'm so happy things finally worked out for you."

Remus chuckled. "I am too. I still have such a hard time believing that it's real, and that I didn't dream the whole thing up."

Rose smiled softly. "You really do care about her, don't you?"

"More than I've ever cared about anyone." He admitted, staring off into the distance.

"Even the weird little things she does?"

He chuckled. "Especially the weird little things she does. I mean, she's gorgeous and brilliant, don't get me wrong. But that's not what I love most about her. It's the way she shoves her hair out of her face all the time but never thinks about actually tying it back. It's the way all the lower buttons on her shirts are loose because she twists them when she's thinking. It's the way she drowns half her food in ketchup, or the fact that she's scared of horses."

Rose smiled. "You are absolutely infatuated, you know that?"

He chuckled. "I guess I am. I admit, it's nice to be able to tell someone. If I tried to explain this to the guys they'd laugh."

Rose giggled. "Nah, it's too sweet to laugh at."

Remus eyed her before going on. "You realize that Sirius thinks that kind of stuff about you."

She snorted. "Yeah right."

"It's true."

"And I frankly don't believe you." Rose said with a shrug. "I remember how he was with Cassie. He'd flirt and talk to her whenever he had the chance, and he'd do all sorts of things to get her attention. He's exactly the opposite with me."

"Because you told him to be."

Rose shook her head. "Cassie was always telling him to back off. He never listened. I figure if he really did care about me that way, he'd be trying harder."

She looked down at her lap, trying to shove the lump from her throat. She didn't want to say it aloud, but she'd so been hoping that he'd have tried. She wanted nothing more than for him to show her that he did fancy her. But he hadn't. Not once.

Remus shrugged. "Maybe the fact that he isn't means that he cares even more. He doesn't want to scare you off."

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

Remus had to grin. "We're all fools in love."

She made a face. "Don't you start quoting Pride and Prejudice on me."

"I'm just repeating something you once said to me."

"Oh…"

"You know it's true though."

"Remus, he's not interested. I've accepted it, and I've moved on. Just drop it, please?"

She knew Remus wasn't convinced, but he thankfully didn't push the matter, letting the conversation change to other things. They ended up discussing Egyptian mythology somehow, before Rose realized it two in the morning and they needed to get to bed.

Remus let her go with a wave goodnight, sneaking back to the Gryffindor common room before Filch could find him. He was surprised to see Sirius still awake, staring into the fire. A textbook had been tossed aside and Remus suspected he'd been trying to distract himself with homework and had given up.

"Padfoot?"

"Hey Moony."

"What are you doing up, it's past two."

"Is it?"

Remus sighed and flopped into an armchair. "What's up?"

"Just thinking."

"About Rose?"

Sirius looked up, nodded once, and went back to staring at the flames. Remus sighed. "Why don't you tell her?"

"She doesn't want me to."

"You don't sound sure."

"I'm not. Something Cassie and Lily said earlier…should I be pushing Rose?"

Remus shrugged. "You don't have to push her. But I don't think you should pretend you don't feel anything."

"How can I show her without making it look like I'm pushing her though?"

"Write a letter?"

Sirius snorted and looked at him again. "A letter? Like, a love letter?"

Remus shrugged, but was grinning. "Why not? You're both into that stuff, aren't you?"

"I guess so. I have no idea what to say though."

"Just…tell her why you like her. Tell her that you don't want to force her to rush or anything, and then you won't appear pushy at all."

Sirius nodded and then moved to grab parchment and a quill. "You're right. You're absolutely right."

Remus chuckled and stood. "I'll leave you to it. Night Sirius."

"Night Remus."

_Rose,_

_Do you have idea how beautiful you really are? I'm assuming that's a no, because I know you don't notice the looks you sometimes get. How is it that you can be so observant when it comes to other people, yet you somehow miss anything directed at you?_

_Did you know that when you're reading in the library, you twist a strand of hair around your finger the whole time? Did you know that when you're eating, you hold your left hand in your lap? Or that when you talk about Herbology that your eyes shine?_

_Because it's true. All of it is true. And despite trying to ignore things like that, I can't help but notice even more. Like how you get a spring in your step when you're happy, and even add in a little skip when you're talking about something that makes you happier. And how you hide so much of your true self that it feels like privilege when I get to see you acting silly._

_Somehow, everything you do catches my eye. I can't help it. And I'm not trying to tell you to make a decision or anything. I just want you to remember something. I'm not giving up on you. I don't care how long it takes. Because I can't help it Rose, I can't _not_ fancy you. You just make it too damn easy. So if you're going to blame anyone, blame yourself. You're the reason I can't stop thinking about you after all._

_I'll be here,_

_Sirius_

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_I'm uploading now cuz i'm awesome! That and i'll be at school until 7:30ish tomorrow, and I don't wanna make you guys wait that long for the chapter =P On another note, you guys know how I was counting down to my 122nd review? Well I got it and it was a flame. From someone blamiing me for my stupidity. It's actually hilarious :D I think you can see it if you look at the reviews for the story, lol. I send them a long, polite, and not very nice reply, and it felt great :D So THIS is why people stand up for themselves!_

_Anyways, please please review!_

_Your Sleepy Authoress,_

_Whisperwings_


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Rose stared at the letter for a whole five minutes before setting it down with trembling fingers. She then stared at it some more, just sitting there so innocently on her nightstand. As if it hadn't just turned her whole world upside down.

She'd never felt so conflicted in her life. Only a few months ago, her biggest inner conflict had involved fancying a boy who was chasing her best friend. Somehow, fancying a boy who actually liked her back seemed even worse.

How was she supposed to act? Not even her wild imagination could decide. One second she was picturing herself walking up to him in the halls and confessing her own feelings. Then it went the other way, where she refused to even look him in the eye until the end of the school year.

At this point, the latter seemed like a more likely response. She'd never really been fancied before. Not like this. Not by someone she actually liked in return.

The romantic in her wanted to do nothing more than sit in her room and read the letter all morning. The practical side of her – which apparently resided in her stomach – demanded that she go get food.

She finally made herself move and get dressed. She grabbed the letter almost as an afterthought and stuffed it into her pocket. She needed some advice.

She hurried up to the Great Hall and spoke to Cassie before she'd even fully taken her seat.

"I need help."

"With what?" Cassie asked around her ketchup covered sausage.

Rose didn't answer in words, instead pulling out the slightly rumpled letter and handing it to her. Cassie read through it at the speed of light, blue eyes wide and smile growing.

"This is great! I _told_ you he still fancied you!" she whispered.

Rose shook her head and stuffed the letter out of sight. "I feel…I feel like it's a trick or something." She admitted. Cassie raised an eyebrow.

"A trick? What do you mean?"

Rose sighed, staring at the choices of food before her. Her stomach demanded food one moment and seemed revolted by the very thought of it the next. She finally forced herself to grab a small pancake, drizzling syrup over it in troubled silence.

"It's just…all that stuff he said before."

"Like his family and whatnot?"

"Yeah."

Cassie sighed. "Rose, do you honestly think Sirius is so spiteful that he'd date a girl just to piss off his family?"

Rose sighed, putting down the syrup and watching as the think liquid spread from her pancake and across her plate. "I want to say he wouldn't Cassie. But how can I be sure?"

Her friend shook her head. "Ask yourself if you honestly believe him to be like that, Rose. He said some dumb stuff, so what? I said worse and you forgave me."

"That was different."

"Not that different. And if you're still not sure…ask yourself if it's a risk worth taking."

Rose didn't answer and Cassie gathered up her stuff. "Better eat quick. Class starts soon." Rose nodded and shoved away her uneaten food, grabbing her bag and standing.

Before she could head outside, Cassie smiled down at her. "Rose…I want you to be happy. And I think Sirius could be a big part of that if you let him."

She left and Rose sighed, walking through the large front doors. She still wasn't sure what to believe.

She wanted to believe Cassie was right. But there was that nagging doubt in the back of her mind that refused to go away.

Her distraction was even obvious to Professor Sprout, who had to stop her from pulling plants rather than weeds more than once.

"My dear, what's wrong?" she finally asked.

Rose sighed and sat back. "Just…boy trouble." Sprout smiled.

"I remember those days. Troubled ones they were for me as well when I was your age."

Rose looked up. "Really?" she had a hard time thinking of her dumpy teacher as ever having been a student. Sprout laughed.

"Indeed. I met my husband here after all. Took him ages to even notice me, let alone ask me to go to Hogsmeade with him."

"And…when he finally asked you. Were you conflicted at all?"

Sprout nodded. "Certainly. Here was a handsome young boy asking me out on a date, when he'd never even spoken to me before."

"What did you do?"

"I took a chance." Sprout said with a smile. Rose bit her lip.

"How did you decide?"

The dumpy witch smiled softly. "I thought to myself that yes, there was a chance that I may get hurt. But there was also a chance that I could be very happy. And not a day has gone by since then that I haven't been grateful that I took that chance. Because he's made my life a joy."

Rose smiled herself and nodded, but Sprout could probably see the conflict in her eyes.

"Rose…have you ever visited the greenhouses at night?"

Rose blushed, wondering if she might get in trouble for admitting that she had. Thankfully, the woman only smiled.

"As have I. I find that the plants make this a lovely place to think. Here's the spare greenhouse key. And – though I shouldn't be encouraging you to break the rules – I believe you'll enjoy it tonight. The full moon causes some of the plants in greenhouse four to glow, you know." She said with a wink.

Rose smiled happily and nodded. "Thank you, professor."

"Nonsense, my dear girl. I just need you to stop trying to pull up my Carnivorous Carnations." The woman teased.

Rose giggled and pocketed the key. "Right. Sorry about that." She said, quickly getting back to work.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Sirius howled happily as he and his friends ran from the castle. Remus was the only one still in his human form, but they all knew it would only be minutes before he too transformed thanks to full moon overhead.

It happened in a mere instant. One minute, Remus was running alongside the buck, dog and rat, and the next he was bent over with a growl. His limbs stretched and shifted and bones cracked and reformed until he was in full werewolf form. Everyone slowed as he shook and stretched, getting used to the feel of his animal form once more.

Sirius nudged him and Remus snapped back, but thanks to the presence of his friends, he held onto the memory of who he was. Sirius gave a wolfish grin and loped across the grounds, only to stop short a moment later.

He sniffed the air and noticed Remus doing the same. There was someone else out here!

Sirius snapped at Remus's arm when the werewolf wanted to go and investigate. It was too dangerous! James took the hint and used his antlers to push Remus towards the Whomping Willow. Peter climbed up onto his shoulder, squeaking in his friend's ear to distract him from the tantalizing scent of prey.

In the meantime, Sirius went to see who was out this late at night. The scent was so familiar…

He spotted a short girl hurrying towards the greenhouses, looking over her shoulder warily. Sirius's ears pricked in his happiness when he recognized the figure as Rose.

He loped forward, and slowed when he heard the girl gasp. She froze, trying not to look in his eyes and realized she was trying not to challenge him. She thought he was going to attack!

On the contrary, he was going to take advantage of the situation. He went to her side and sat, tongue lolling happily. Rose giggled lightly and hesitantly reached out to scratch behind his ears. Sirius's eyes closed and he gave a soft woof of happiness.

"Who are you then? We're not supposed to have dogs on the grounds." She said with a grin. "I've seen you before though." She realized

Sirius's ears pricked in curiosity and she shrugged, seeming know exactly what he wanted to ask. "I was in my dormitory and I looked out the window. I saw you running." She smiled softly again. "I was jealous, I wanted to run like that at the time."

Sirius gave her a look, the big puppy dog look he knew the girls loved, and she giggled. "Just boy troubles. Nothing terrible." She assured him. "In fact, that's why I'm heading to the greenhouses now. Would you like to come with me?"

Sirius was tempted, but he knew his friends were waiting. He shook his head – not caring that it was a very un-dog-like thing to do – and licked her hand. "Alright." She whispered. "Maybe I'll see you again sometime."

She scratched his head one more time and hurried over to the greenhouses. Sirius gave himself a doggie smile and turned, sprinting across the moonlight filled grounds towards his friends.

So Rose was off to think about him, was she? That seemed like a good sign to him.

_o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o_

_Hurray for advice, and an even bigger hurray for Marauders mischeif! I know I haven't focus on this part of the lives of the boys, but don't worry, I haven't forgotten :D Also, this story is over 60,000 words and it's not even fully posted yet. And I write is in less than 30 days...so I'm going to attempt NaNoWriMo with my next story, lol. Even if i'm late starting ^^;_

_Please review and let me know what you think!_

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings_


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37

The next day at lunch, everyone was talking about the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend visit. Now that the weather was really starting to get warm, everyone was looking forward to getting out of the castle and off the grounds. Sirius and the boys included.

Somehow, being able to wander the village freely was even better than having to sneak around, though both could be a lot of fun in their minds.

Remus told them that he'd invited Cassie along and they all agreed that it would be even more fun with her along. Sirius tried to casually ask about Rose only to get a knowing smile and an assurance that she'd be joining them as well.

Sirius had just polished off his turkey sandwich when he smelled a familiar earthy scent from the night before. He looked up, already knowing that it was Rose he'd be seeing in the doorway. Like every other time he'd spent all night in his canine form, his nose was more powerful than usual.

He knew that he'd never forget Rose's scent either. Not after meeting her as a dog last night.

She was with Cassie and Lily, and the three girls took seats at the Ravenclaw table like usual.

"Maybe I should ask Lily to go with me. Us, I mean with us." James muttered absently, watching as the redhead across the room piled her plate with potato chips alongside her own sandwich.

"Go do it then." Sirius urged him. James looked at him, nodded and stood. A nervous look flitted across his face, but Sirius shoved him a bit, forcing him to move. He was already walking, no turning back now.

"Is he actually asking her?" Remus asked with a grin when he noticed where James was heading. Sirius nodded, smiling widely himself as he watched the messy haired young man come up behind the girls.

A few pleasantries were exchanged, which went rather well. Sirius could tell when James finally asked the question, because he only looked at Lily and looked like he was trying to be cool.

Sirius's grin widened when the redhead smiled slightly and nodded. James looked nothing short of astounded for a second before a brilliant, truly happy smile speared on his face. He said a few more words to all three of the girls and came back over, a swagger in his step.

Sirius laughed when James took his seat, still grinning like a mad man.

"I'm guessing that went well?"

"It went excellent! She said yes, Padfoot!" Sirius chuckled as his friend did a funny little wiggle in his seat and Sirius shook his head. He looked back over at the girls and grinned. Rose and Cassie were chatting animatedly, while Lily wore a happy little smile on her face. Rose laughed and Sirius's own smile softened as he watched her.

When the girl looked up and her eyes met his, he didn't look away. One more of his little reminders that he was still here. She flushed and looked down saying something to her friends before gabbing her things and escaping from the room altogether.

Lily watched the girl leave in surprise before turning her gaze to the Gryffindor table. As she'd expected, Sirius was watching Rose leave as well. He looked back and caught her eyes, and Lily nodded.

She didn't know how she knew, but she could tell that Sirius was hoping that she would talk to the other girl. She hurried to her feet and followed the Rose from the Great Hall.

"Rose!"

"Hmm? Oh Lily. Yeah? What is it?" The girl asked, turning to the redhead.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing."

"Oh I…just remembered I forgot something. In my room." She said quickly. Lily grinned.

"Or maybe a certain Gryffindor was staring at you."

Rose sighed. "Again. It's very disconcerting."

"Why don't you just give him a chance?" Rose looked unsure and Lily shook her head in exasperation. "Rose, if I can give James a chance, don't you think you could do the same for Sirius?"

Rose looked uncomfortable. "I'm just…unsure if he's being honest."

"In what way?"

Rose shrugged. "What if the letter he sent me wasn't actually from him? Or what if it's just a way to try and get me to trust him? Or-"

"Woah woah woah." Lily said quickly. "Rose, you are being _way_ too paranoid about this."

"I know it seems dumb…"

"I have to agree with you there. Yeah, it could be any of those things. Or maybe he's just being honest with you."

Rose sighed. "I just need a little more time."

Lily shook her head. "Just don't take too much of it. I know he said he'd wait…but it's not really fair to make him do so." She said softly.

As she headed back into the Great Hall, Rose knew she was right.

First of all, she was being silly about this. Secondly, she was being unfair. She needed to make a decision.

Her feet carried her to the Room of Requirement, a place she'd been visiting a lot in recent weeks. When she was fighting with everyone, being outside hadn't been much of an escape. She didn't know how many times she'd run into Remus and Cassie taking walks out there. Instead, she'd started coming here, to the greenhouse Sirius had created.

She modified the greenhouse a lot over the past few weeks, changing around plants and the furniture in the room. Today though, that wanted to see.

As she walked back and forth along the wall, she didn't focus on what she'd turned the greenhouse into. She didn't want to see her own modifications, not this time. Instead, she concentrated all her might on the room Sirius had first created so long ago.

The door appeared and she slipped inside, taking a deep breath of the warm, thick air. Air which smelled of damp earth and healthy plants. She dropped her heavy bag onto one of the spindly garden chairs and circled the room, examining the plants he'd somehow come up with.

She knew Sirius didn't care enough to request anything specific, but the plants that had appeared all shared a few things in common. They were lovely. Normally Rose found most every plant lovely, each in their own right. But these plants were ones known for their visual and aromatic appeal.

And everywhere were roses. Blue roses, yellow roses, red roses, and even a few of the highly rare rose bushes which sprouted velvety black roses alongside rose blossoms that bloomed into a rainbow of color.

Her own greenhouse creation held many other plants she was fond of, including some that could be dangerous if not handled correctly. But the fact that Sirius had come up with this setup for her…made it mean just as much. If not more.

He's made it on Christmas day too. She kind of thought of it as a present from him. Was it silly? Yes…yes it was. Even so, she couldn't help it.

Did she fancy Sirius? Dumb question, of course she did. She had for forever. She'd done everything in her power throughout the school year thus far to try – and sometimes succeed – and convince herself that she didn't feel a thing for the handsome Gryffindor. It had all been rather pointless when the boy had only had eyes for Cassie.

Then he'd changed his mind though. Remus assured her that he cared more about her that he ever had about Cassie. But then…how could she be sure?

Rose sighed and leaned against the side of a planter, a number of highly fuzzy vines moving to curl around her shoulders. The thing fed of emotions, and she was the nearest source. It could sense her unhappiness and wanted to comfort her.

"Should I trust him? He's so prone to hopping from one girl to another…why should I bother taking the chance?" she asked the vine which now stroked her cheek. "What if I let him in only to have him leave again? That would hurt even worse…"

She sighed. "I really wish someone could just tell me the future. Taking chances is so much easier when you know it'll work out."

_o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o_

_I know I know, Rose's indecision may seem to be silly. but I'm basing it off of my own persoinal experiences, so i know that it's realistic. I had a crush on my best friend, and he one day told me that he had one on me as well. I panicked, and actually ignored the need to make a decision for weeks, and eventually made the wrong decision. He started dating one of my other friends (who was a jerkface and I never really liked her) and she turned him into a jerk as well. I not only lost my potential boyfriend, but my best friend. let's hope Rose can make a better decision faster =P_

_Please please review. I'd love to know what you think about all this!_

_Your Humble Authoress,_

_Whisperwings_


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Sirius didn't even bother to get himself any food. He was too busy watching the entrance to the Great Hall to even bother eating anything.

"Sirius, you have to eat." James coaxed.

"No."

"You're being an idiot." Cassie said, dishing him out some of everything on the table. She had joined the boys and Lily over at the Gryffindor table today.

"I'm not hungry."

"She'll be here soon, she just wanted to drop off that bag of hers." Remus pointed out.

"I know. And I'll wait. Thanks anyway." Sirius said, trying to be polite despite the fact that he was barely paying attention.

Earlier that day, Cassie had passed on Rose's misgivings to him. About how nervous she was that she was just a passing fancy. He was going to try, one last time. Even if talking to her was one of the things he wasn't supposed to do.

After tonight, he would be content to wait until she was ready. But he had to assure her that he was changing. He was doing everything in his power to be a better man. And he may have been doing it because of her…but he was also doing if for her.

He had to tell her that.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Rose wrapped one of her many badly made sweaters about her small frame, cinching it tight with a belt. She'd changed from her uniform, but she felt a bit more comfortable this way. Which was rather odd, since her regular clothing usually made her feel just the opposite. Usually, it made her feel even more out of place.

Had she really changed so much in the course of the last few months?

Yes. Yes, she really had. She'd made new friends, strengthened her relationship with old ones, and had pulled through some truly horrible times. And somewhere in the middle of it all, she'd come to realize something.

She actually liked herself for who she was. She was proud of her parents for standing up for a dream that may never come true. She was proud to be a Hufflepuff. She was proud that she could keep her mouth shut, but she could also stand up for herself when she had to.

So what if it had taken her six years and half a dozen other people to help her realize it?

The point was, she knew it now. And it was time for her to take that newfound confidence and do something with it.

She entered the great hall and blinked in confusion when she didn't see the girls sitting at the Ravenclaw table. She glanced over to see them at the Gryffindor table instead, just in time to also see Sirius shooting to his feet.

She had to hold back an amused giggle when he moved right over the top of the table rather than go around it, almost stepping on Remus's plate in the process. And as he hurried along the room to stand before her, everyone started looking around to see what the fuss was about. At the moment though, Rose couldn't care less that they had an audience.

"Hi." He said, a bit hesitantly.

"Hello." She replied.

"Look…Rose." He spouted, looking like he wasn't about to hold anything back. "I know you said that you didn't want me to talk to you anymore. And I know that you probably don't want me to rush you into a decision or anything. And I'm not! Just so you know."

He took a deep breath and went on. "I just wanted to tell you that my feelings haven't changed since the dance. Not going away at least. I think they may have actually gotten stronger if anything, despite everything that's happened and-"

Rose's giggling stopped him short and she tried to bite them back.

"Is…something funny?"

Rose smiled up at him and he blinked in surprise. "Sirius…I actually came here looking to talk to you." She admitted.

"Oh…really?"

"Yeah."

"What about?"

"Well…" she glanced to her left and saw her friends at the table watching. Peter and James were grinning and nudging each other, thinking they were being sneaky about it. Lily was chewing her lip without knowing it again, though she grinned and nodded at her glance. Remus and Cassie – who were almost certainly holding hands beneath the table the way their arms were angled – were both smiling encouragingly as well.

She was happy to know that this time around, she had their support.

"Sirius… You once told me that I should live more spontaneously. That I should live every day as if it were my last. Do you remember?"

"Yeah." He said. Somehow, he didn't seem to understand where she was taking this. "It was Christmas day, after you told me about your parents."

"Exactly. Well, this is a little different."

"What do you mean?"

"If I were to die tomorrow, there is only one thing I would regret not doing today."

He looked curious, though still confused. "What's that?"

At the moment, Rose did something even she had never before considered doing. But it just seemed like the right thing to do.

She grabbed his red and gold tie, and pulled him down into a kiss.

The great hall suddenly held a miniature explosion as she let him go, as everyone turned to their neighbors to talk about this surprising development. Half the females were groaning in despair, but Rose and Sirius could hear their friends cheering over at the Gryffindor table.

Sirius's eyes popped open in surprise as he felt her release the silk tie, looking down at her. She wore an expression of mixed pride, fear, and hope. It was the last emotion that exploded in his heart like a firework.

Rather than reply in words, he simply reached out to gently cup her cheeks, and leaned down to kiss her once again.

Rose sighed happily against his lips, feeling her heart swell with happiness. His hesitance was gone, and she couldn't find the will to mind it at all. In fact…she really liked this confident side of him. Especially when it came to her.

By the time he pulled away, Sirius could tell that Rose was nothing short of dazed, but she shook it off with a happy smile. The pair of them looked at the chaos of the dining hall and grinned at each other, deciding that the damage was done for the night.

"Come on." He whispered, taking her hand and pulling her from the room. As if it was planned, they both crossed the Entrance Hall and left the castle, aiming for the greenhouses. Without saying a word, they both knew they were going to go climb onto the roof of the largest one.

"That went better than last time." He teased, grinning down at her. Rose had to blush even as she laughed.

"Last time, you put me on the spot and I panicked." She pointed out. "This time, I was better prepared."

"Well that's no fun." He whispered, stopping and scooping her into his arms and spinning around, kissing her firmly before he set her down once more.

She weaved a bit and gripped his hand, glaring up at him. "And that's cruel."

"Exactly." He said smugly, leaning down to kiss her once more. Rose sighed happily and let her eyes flutter closed, just letting the warm feeling spread over her like melting butter.

"I can't tell you how many times I've daydreamed of this." She whispered when he pulled away again. He chuckled and pulled her along as she mentally tried to remind her legs how they were supposed to work.

"And is it what you hoped it would be?"

"No." she whispered.

He sent her a look and she grinned up at him, squeezing his fingers.

"It's better."

_o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o_

_I know not a whole lot happened last chapter, but I figured it was worth more than the two reviews I got O.o I hope people aren't getting bored of this story! Especially considering what happened in this one!_

_As well as the fact that there's only 2 chapters left after this...Yup, 40 chapters exactly. So please please pleeeeease review and tell me your thoughts and feelings and reactions, I'd love to know what everyone has thought of this chapter! I've had it planned from the beginning pretty much :D_

_Your Hopeful Authoress,_

_Whisperwings_


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Looking back, Rose had to admit that school became a blur as the spring term went by. Classes were attended and books were studied, and finally their end of the year exams were taken as well.

But despite the blur, Rose could never remember being happier. Though school itself didn't seem to lodge in her memory, everything else did. Her time with her friends were clear bubbles in the madness of everything else. And her time with Sirius always seemed to be eager to be recalled.

And as their final day of exams was completed, the group went to Hogsmeade to celebrate with a butterbeer. Or in the case of Cassie, James and Peter, a little too much alcohol in general.

Later that night, when they were sneaking back into the castle, Sirius refused to say good night to Rose as Remus was doing with Cassie. In fact, he didn't even let go of her hand. Rather than head back to their common rooms, they snuck through the moonlit corridors, eventually dashing across the grassy expanse which separated the castle from the greenhouses. Rose paused only to grab a bundle from its handy hiding place beneath a broken pot.

"You know, if Sprout finds out how often we're out here, she'd kill us." Rose said with a giggle as Sirius pulled her up onto the tiled roof of the largest building.

"She'll never know if you don't tell her." He pointed out. "Did she ever ask for that spare key back?"

"No." Rose said in wonder as they made their way up the spiral of a roof. "When I tied to give it back today, she told me to keep it. She says I'll be needing it next year anyway."

"Wait, you tried to give it _back_? Are you insane?"

"Of course I am." Rose pointed out with a smile, pulling a thick spare blanket from the bundle in her arms and spreading it across the tiles.

"Of course you are." Sirius repeated, taking a seat. He pulled her down into his lap before she could sit beside him, making her giggle lightly again.

"Oh stop it, dog-breath." She complained when he went to kiss her.

"Hey, I resent that remark!" he pretended to complain.

"No, you resemble it." She teased right back, giggling again when he brushed her nose with his. "I still can't believe you guys managed to pull off such a complex spell!"

Sirius smiled a tad smugly. "It's not that hard actually. Once you've done it right once, it's impossible to mess up."

She made a face. "You can do it wrong?"

"Oh yes." He said with a chuckle. "There were a number of times James simply sprouted antlers, Peter grew buck teeth and whiskers, and I ended up with a tail."

"A tail? Really?" Rose asked in amusement. "How'd you fix that?"

"That was the easy part. The spell to change back is easy as pie. It's just becoming an animal in the first place that's hard."

"Hmmm…I wonder what animal I would be if I became an animagus." Rose mused, curling against his chest as the stars came out in the velvet sky.

"A mouse." He said without hesitation.

"Hey!" she complained lightly. He chuckled again, his deep laugh rumbling though his chest. It still amazed Rose just how many dog-like tendencies Sirius had all the time, she'd just never noticed it before.

"Better than Belinda. I bet she'd be a fancy little lapdog."

"I can see that." Rose admitted. "I think Cassie would probably be a gazelle or something."

"Nah, she's not as graceful as you." He said, the casual remark making her blush though he hardly even seemed to realize he'd said it. "I can actually see her being a lioness or something."

Rose grinned. "Loud, strong, lazy…sounds about right."

"She's really ok with Remus?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah. She's perfectly fine with it. She was the one who figured it out after all." She pointed out. "The look on Remus's face was priceless."

Sirius nodded, and mimicked the Ravenclaw girl. ""Remus, are you a werewolf and not telling me?""

Rose giggled. "It was hilarious! Oh my goodness, even James was speechless."

"And that's saying something." Sirius added with a smile. "You know he's planning on asking Lily to the next dance the school has?"

"Really?" Rose asked with a grin. "Even though he hates dancing?"

"Even though he hates dancing." The young man confirmed.

"I bet she'll say yes." Rose's voice was sure. "She hasn't said anything, but she sure can blush."

"Almost as red as her hair." Sirius agreed.

"Oh no!" Rose suddenly exclaimed.

"What?"

"The dance thing…they're not doing it again." She looked up with a sigh and answered his unasked question. "Belinda told me yesterday. The dance was all organized by the Dance Club thing…but the club only has four members, and three of them just took their N.E.W.T.s. Belinda is going to be the only one left next year."

"Really? Sucks to be her."

"Sirius!"

"Sorry, but I can't help it Rose, she bugs me."

Rose made a face. "I know. It's not like she even hangs out with us anymore."

"Which is only a good thing."

"Yeah yeah, I know." Rose replied, shaking her head in amusement. "But I'd appreciate it if you could stop rubbing my face in how rotten she turned out to be."

"Sorry." He said, though his casual voice told her he didn't really mean it. "I'm just glad we're rid of her for the most part."

Rose rolled her eyes, only to grin when he kiss her forehead.

"I can't hate her entirely." He admitted, voice soft. "She did organize the dance after all. And without the dance, I might not have realized just how good a dancer you are."

"Oh?" Rose asked in a prim voice. "And is that the only reason you decided to transfer your affections to me? For my skills on the dance floor?"

"But of course, my fine lady. I could hardly be seen in public with a girl who is any less graceful then you." He answered, though the sucking kiss to the skin below her ear ruined the act and made her burst into laughter.

Sirius was quick to quiet her with a real kiss this time, grinning when she shivered pleasantly in his arms. "Quiet." He whispered when he pulled away. A hint of a mischievous smile appeared on her lips instead.

"If I'm not will you do that again?"

"No." he said with a smile, but she knew he'd it again anyway. "Because I need to ask you something first."

"What?"

"Where are you staying this summer?"

The Hufflepuff made a face. "At home I guess. My parents are still living in their little trailer, and it's tiny. I end up sleeping on the booth, half under the table. And with Voldemort being stupid and gobbling up more power all the time…I don't really think it's smart for them to leave their hiding place."

"But you don't want to stay with them?"

"Not…really." She admitted with a sheepish smile. "I love them to death, don't get me wrong. But they're messy to the point of insanity and have a bad habit of getting all –lovey-dovey even when I'm around."

"Good. Because I have here," He shifted to pull a rumpled parchment from his back pocket. "A letter from James' parents. And they want me to tell you that they have a guest room if you happen to need one."

Rose's eyes popped and she beamed. "Really?" she exclaimed, as loudly as she dared, throwing her arms around his neck. "Oh that'll be wonderful, I'll still get to see you every day!"

He chuckled as she slowly got settled once more, pulling the edges of the blanket up over their legs. "I figure you'll want to visit your parents for a while."

"Yeah, for maybe a week or so. But I don't think they'll mind at all. They're well aware that I'm not fond of their trailer." She rolled her eyes, but a fond smile remained. Sirius chuckled again and pressed his lips to her temple.

"In that case, this is going to be the best summer in recorded history."

"Don't forget the unrecorded part." She teased right back, smiling at him before she brushed her lips against his. "Sometimes what's not written down is even more important than what is."

"I can't argue with that." He whispered into her hair.

"Of course not, I'm right."

"How is it you're always right?"

Rose grinned smugly. "Because I'm just talented that way. You're fault for fancying me."

"You started it."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Alright…but only in secret, so that doesn't count."

"You were right then too."

"I was, wasn't I?" she agreed with a dreamy smile. Sirius chuckled and pulled her close, breathing in the earthy scent of her hair.

He smiled, breathing in the earthy scent of her hair. "Yeah…and I've never been more happy to be proven wrong."

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_It's over! Just Kidding XD Well, It's practically over, but I have an Epilogue for you guys tomorrow. Hopefully I managed to wrap up a few of your burning questions in this chapter, and the rest will be answered in the Epilogue tomorrow :)_

_Please please pleeeeease review! Especially if you want to inspire me to work on a NEW Harry Potter story! The faster I write, the quicker I can start posting it after all =P_

_Your Hopefull Authoress,_

_Whisperwings_


	40. Epilogue

Epilogue

Harry jumped down the last of the stairs on the staircase of number twelve Grimmauld Place, remembering too late the portrait of Sirius's mother hidden behind the curtains there. He froze for a moment, and breathed a quiet sigh of relief when she didn't wake and freak out again.

He quickly moved to the kitchen to join the others for a late supper. The Order had been in a meeting all afternoon, lasting long past their usual supper time. Still, with the Christmas holidays, many of them had stayed for one of Molly's warm suppers.

"Oh excellent, Harry! I need you to prove to Tonks that I'm not making things up." Ron said when he spotted his friend, grabbing his arm and dragging him over. Harry was only too happy to oblige, joining the conversation as he watched Hermione and Ginny hang up decorations around the old kitchen.

The dinner turned into a miniature party almost, celebrating the fact that Mr. Weasley was alive and healing at St. Mungo's, and that the kids had managed to escape Hogwarts right under Umbridge's nose. And with Christmas coming, Sirius was ecstatic. He wouldn't have to be on his own for the holiday.

As people slowly drifted off to head home for the night (or to guard duty for some), Harry went to fill his glass of water at the tap. He glanced to his left to see a picture on the fridge. He looked a bit closer, recognizing the picture of the first Order of the Phoenix, which Mad-Eye Moody had shown him before the beginning of the school year.

His parents still stood at the front, smiling happily at the camera with Peter Pettigrew between them. A little to their right was Remus, and Harry blinked in surprise as he looked beside him. Lupin stood with his arm around the waist of a pretty, light-haired lady with large blue eyes. Harry wasn't sure he'd ever seen his ex-defense against the dark arts teacher smile quite like that.

"Who's that?" he asked Sirius when he came over. Sirius looked at the picture.

"That's Cassie. Cassandra Coal." He said with a soft smile. "Remus's girlfriend from school."

Harry looked at him in surprise. "Lupin had a girlfriend?"

"Yeah…she was in Ravenclaw. They were best friends. Remus really loved her. She was killed…about a month after this photo was taken."

"What happened?"

"Fenrir Greyback. He's always been on Voldemort's side. He was trying to convince Remus to join up too. I guess he figured that if he took away the very thing Remus lived for, then he'd switch sides. It didn't work." Sirius said, his whole face shadowed in the memory of anger and sadness. "Moony hasn't let himself get close to anyone since."

"Oh…" Harry said, unsure what he could possibly say. "I…didn't know."

"He doesn't talk about her much." Sirius said with a sigh. "He's not the only one who's left loved ones in their memories."

"What do you mean?"

Sirius didn't answer at first, and then poked at the picture to make the people within it move. Harry finally spotted the much younger Sirius in the picture shift forward, actually lifting a small woman into his arms and carrying her forward. The picture-Sirius set the lady down, where she leaned back against his chest.

"Who…is that?" Harry asked his godfather, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

"Rose." Sirius whispered. He reached out, finger brushing at the petite girl's face, as if he longed to be touching the real person. "I had just proposed to her that evening. That's why there were so many people there at once, we were celebrating."

Harry stared at the girl in the picture. She was so short that her head didn't even reach Sirius's shoulders, but she looked perfectly comfortable in his embrace. She had dirt under her fingernails, and a silver and gold ring on her finger, glinting even in the dim lighting of the photo. She and Sirius were practically glowing with happiness.

"She loved Christmas." Sirius said with a sad smile. "It was our favorite holiday. James and Lily loved Halloween best, they'd had couple costumes every year since they started dating. But Christmas? That is for me and Rose."

Harry watched the emotions fit across the older man's face, then back at the younger, grinning Sirius in the picture. "What happened to her?"

Sirius sighed, pulling a necklace from under his shirt. On it hung the gold and silver a ring, a delicate rose forming in the center with the row of diamonds. "We got married. Halfway through the reception, your Mum went into labor. She and your dad left, the party carried on. And about an hour later…a bunch of death eaters attacked."

Harry looked away from the smiling girl in the picture, looking at Sirius instead. His godfather's grey eyes looked a bit overbright, almost lost in a way.

"I don't know how they found us…but we were a prime target. Half the Order was there. There was a battle… Bellatrix Lestrange, my cousin, cornered Rose." He gave a dry chuckle. "Rose was never a skilled duelist. She was a herbologist. Even then, in the midst of the war, she was exploring and studying new plant species."

He sighed sadly and looked away. "Rose could never have outdueled Bellatrix. I didn't even know what had happened until later."

Harry didn't know what to say. "Sirius…I'm sorry."

Sirius shook his head with a sigh. "After that…I packed up everything I owned, bought myself a flying motorcycle, and took off. Remus had been forced to go into hiding to avoid Greyback by then. So the only people I really talked to were your parents."

He grinned at Harry. "Rose's eyes were green too, though darker than yours and Lily's. She was the one that suggested the name Harry in the first place. You were born on the day she died…James and Lily named you in honor of her."

Harry looked up at him. "You miss her?"

"More than anything." Sirius said softly. "But I know that someday I'll see her again."

"How do you know?" Harry asked, thinking of his own parents. Sirius smiled.

"Because as Rose was dying in my arms…that's what she said. She pulled off her wedding veil and told me 'Death is just a different kind of veil. I'll be waiting on the other side.' And someday, when I too pass through the veil, I know I'll find her there."

Harry smiled softly to himself and nodded. Even in the midst of everything that he'd lost, a small glimmer of hope sat in his godfather's eyes. It was enough to give Harry a bit of hope too.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Sirius was floating, in a place without gravity. At once it was light and dark, and he couldn't see a thing.

What had happened? Oh yes…he'd been fighting Bellatrix. And then what? He'd…gotten hit. Pushed.

The veil in the Department of Mysteries.

He'd heard the whispering, trying to distract him even as his cousin and the other death eaters had held their wands to the throats of Harry and the other kids.

He knew he'd fallen through, but where was he? Where was the floor?

The moment he thought of it, a floor appeared beneath his feet. His clothes? They followed next, his tattered robes over an old t-shirt and a pair of jeans. A location?

White fog rolled away to reveal a wooden dance floor beneath a gracefully arching pavilion. Roses edged everything, their many colors making him smile.

The smile turned to a look of surprise when a person appeared. There, in the center of the dance floor, stood Rose, emerging out of the fog as if she was made of it.

She looked exactly as he remembered. Her dark brown hair hanging in curls down her back. Shining deep green eyes. A sleeveless white dress brushing the floor. An enormous blood stain across her right side.

"Hello Sirius."

"Rose." He breathed. He was afraid to move, as if she'd disappear if he spoke too loud.

She didn't seem to have that fear, as she hitched up her skirts and ran towards him. She was barefoot, having discarded her shoes soon once the reception had begun. On instinct he knelt to lift her into his arms, and she threw her arms around his neck. She felt wonderfully solid, and Sirius's grip tightened.

"I've been waiting." She whispered, breath warm on his skin. "So very long I've been waiting. Both wanting you to come and not wanting it to happen until you were old."

"This isn't…?"

"The end? No." she pulled back and he sank right to the dance floor, holding her in his lap. It had been more than fifteen years since her death. He didn't plan on letting her go ever again. "This is…a crossroads. Kind of a waiting platform, where we make a choice."

"What choice?"

"A choice to go back and become ghosts, or to go on and accept death."

"And you waited? All this time?"

She gave him a shaky smile. "Yes. No one knows the mysteries death has for us. I didn't want to go on without seeing you at least one last time."

He smiled softly and brushed hair from her face. She hadn't changed at all. He had aged, but she still looked as is she was twenty years old. He didn't hesitate a second longer before kissing her soundly. "I love you. I never stopped." He promised, pressing his lips to hers once more. She smiled up at him, fingers tracing the lines on his face.

"I know… You're old." She whispered with a faint chuckle, looking him over. "I wish I'd been there to see it."

He shook his head. "No you don't. It's been a right awful couple of years, Rose."

She sighed. "Maybe so. As it stands though…I think we need to turn back the clock a bit." Her fingers moved along the edge of his mouth, watching as the lines faded away, and youthful skin came back. His clothing changed too, to the suit he'd worn on their wedding day. His hair smoothed and the smile returned, the old shine in his grey eyes gleaming down at her.

He lifted the chain from around his neck, taking the ring from it and placing it once more on her finger where it belonged. Where it had always belonged.

"Are you ready?" he asked her. She nodded.

"As long as I'm with you, I'm ready for anything."

He smiled and kissed her one last time. "I love you."

She grinned and nodded. "And I love you Sirius. No matter what happens next…I always will. You know that, right?"

Sirius smirked, eyes sparkling a bit mischievously. "I do."

Rose had to roll her eyes and smile, and as their bodes were enveloped by mist, their lips met one last time in an eternal kiss.

The End.

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_That's it! it's over! The End, finito! And I am in utter shock. I've never written a story this quickly, never ever. I tend to start them, and then I start a new story and forget the old ones. Which is why i have 30 unfinished stories right now ^^; So for me to have written 40 chapters and posted them all at least one a day, I am very impressed. Over 65,000 words in less than a month. I can beat NaNo easy =P_

_Speaking of NaNo and other stuff, I know that there are at least a few of you who will be very upset that this story is all over! Well, I do have some other works posted on here already that you're welcome to read (just don't hold the old ones against me, they're ancient and awful). And I'm working on a new Harry Potter story for NaNo, and I should be posting that pretty soon. Hopefully with a daily update again. So add me to your author alert and keep an eye out for that one!_

_until then, I would like to say thank you for all my wonderful readers, and an even bugger thank you to my reviewers, and an even bigger thank you to the three or four of you who updated almost every chapter! YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE! I seriously love you all, thank you for sticking with me through this adventure, and I hope to see you again soon :)_

_Your Tearful Authoress,_

_Whisperwings_


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